XIV 



PLANTS THAT PRODUCE LIGHTS; PLANTS THAT SEE 



'Tis said at Summer's evening hour, 

 Flashes the golden-coloured flower, 

 A fair electric flame. 



COLERIDGE. 



SHOULD one walk through a dark forest at 

 night, especially in the tropics, one would fre- 

 quently see strange lights among the foliage and 

 decaying leaves. These lights are really luminous 

 leaves, and may be of the elm, oak, cottonwood, or 

 beech. If closely examined such leaves prove to be 

 damp, and most of them are yellow and covered 

 with spots. The cause of the leaf's luminosity is not 

 due to the substance of the leaf itself, but to a 

 fungous growth on the leaf. 



There are numerous light-producing fungi and 

 algae; the light-developing qualities of these plants 

 being dependent upon the amount of oxygen they 

 contain. There are also luminous mushrooms. 

 Perhaps this production of light may be their 

 method of attracting the beetles, moths, and gnats 

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