100 THE HUMAN SIDE OF PLANTS 



only one of the remarkable powers which are known 

 to exist in plants. There can be no question that 

 there also exists in plant life a well-balanced sense 

 of time and direction. Many, many times through- 

 out the writings of the poets we find references 

 which concede such powers to different plants. 

 Longfellow tells of the compass-plant, in these 

 beautiful lines from "Evangeline" : 



"Look at this delicate plant that lifts its head from the 



meadow, 

 See how its leaves * all point to the north, as true as the 



magnet; 



It is the compass-flower, that the finger of God has suspended 

 Here on its fragile stalk, to direct the traveller's journey 

 Over the sea-like, pathless, limitless waste of the desert." 



As a guide to the traveller perhaps the best 

 known natural compass is the bark of trees. Na- 

 tives of the woods know that the north or shaded 

 side of the tree is usually coated with the green 

 of moss ; and, by this and other prominent markings 

 of direction, they find their way through the appar- 

 ently pathless forest. 



The sunflower is truly named! Not only does 

 it radiate the golden colour of the sun, but it always 



* The flower of the compass-plant, not the leaf, is the in- 

 dicator of direction, from which the plant receives its name; 

 although the leaf does usually, not always, have its edges 

 point north and south. 



