160 THE HUMAN SIDE OF PLANTS 



eaten by insects; but on returning the next morn- 

 ing to his greenhouse, he saw them in their full 

 beauty upon the same part of the plant on which 

 he had left them the preceding day. Again in the 

 evening he accompanied his gardener to visit the 

 plants, and again the flowers were gone, while the 

 next morning once more exhibited them in full 

 glory. His gardener declared that his master must 

 have been mistaken, and that these could not be 

 the same flowers, but must be fresh blossoms. Lin- 

 nseus was too much of a philosopher to be satisfied 

 with such an idle conclusion, and in the evening he 

 examined the plant, carefully taking it up leaf by 

 leaf, until he discovered that the blossoms had been 

 quite hidden by the drooping foliage. This lotus 

 is a butterfly-shaped flower; and he found, upon 

 looking farther, that the lupins, the garden acacias, 

 peas, and many more flowers similarly shaped, were 

 affected in nearly the same way by the influence 

 of night." 



However, plants fold their leaves and flowers for 

 other causes than darkness. The opening and clos- 

 ing of certain flowers is not influenced to any large 

 extent by light and darkness, as they wake and 

 sleep irrespective of the sun. This habit of sleeping 

 at different times of the day is one of the strangest 

 things in regard to the sleeping habits of plants. 



