302 



THE NATURE BOOK 



ESCHSCHOLTZIA : DAY POSITION. 



in the morning long before the sun has 

 attained its maximum altitude. We can- 

 not but feel that we know very little 

 about the real action of light upon the 

 petals of flowers. 



A very long time ago it was noticed 

 that the Water Lily went to bed at night, 

 and in the morning rose up to meet the 

 sun. In his dainty " Reveille," Shake- 

 speare tells of the " chaliced flowers that 

 rise," and he can only mean the grandest 

 of our native blossoms — the White Water 

 Lily. When the flower of the \\'ater 

 Lily is fully expanded it is very much 

 exposed to the elements ; and although 

 the plant grows with water all around it, 

 the golden pollen must be kept free from 

 moisture. Moreover, with such a large 

 surface as is offered by the big open 

 flower, there would be a serious loss of 

 natural heat during the night. Even in 

 the long June days the temperature 

 falls \ery low at the coolest ])art of the 

 twenty-four hours. So at the approach 

 of evening the petals and sepals of the 

 Water Lily close inwards, ancl the whole 

 blossom, no longer spread out raft-like 

 on the surface of the lake, sinks down 

 until onlv about a third of the bud is 

 visible. Thus in the equable temperature 

 of the water the night is passed without 



injury, and the pollen is shielded from 

 the heavy dews of the dark hours. The 

 s}iarc length on each Water Lily stalk 

 makes this rising and falling quite a simple 

 matter. 



It is not by any means e\-ery plant 

 which closes its flowers during the night- 

 time. Plants, like almost everything else 

 in this world, are very much the victims 

 of circumstance, and whilst in a broad 

 sense the blossoms may be called the 

 children of the sun, there are quite a 

 numl^er of instances in which the flowers 

 positively refuse to respond to the glow- 

 ing rays. In the garden and out in the 

 hedgerows we may find plants producing 

 flowers — usually white or light-coloured 

 — which all the da}' long are closed and 

 unattractive ; the very waning light, 

 which means bed-time to most flowers, 

 induces these species to expand their 

 blossoms to the fullest extent. Two 

 typical examples may be found in the 

 White Tobacco Plant of the border, and 

 the Evening Campion of the fields. Now 

 in almost all the cases of these plants 

 which are alert at night, it is to be found 

 that some insect is closely associated 

 with the scheme of fertilisation ; and 

 this particular species only flies during 



KSCHSCIIOI.TZIA NIGHT POSITION 



