132 Flowers and their Unbidden Guests. 



day these stamens, like their predecessors, bend back- 

 wards, and at the same time the anthers, as a rule, faU 

 off; and now, with the coming on of evening, the long 

 S-shaped twisted silky stigmas, which hitherto were 

 immatm-e and hidden in the bottom of the flower, make 

 their advance. 



With this lengthening and bending of the stamens 

 and stigmas goes hand in hand the opening and shutting 

 of the corolla. With the approach of dusk the bifid 

 limbs of the petals spread out in a fiat surface, and 

 fall back against the calyx. In this position they 

 remain through the night, and not till the following 

 morning do they begin (more quickly in sunshine and , 

 with a mild temperature, more slowly with a cloudy 

 sky and in cold wet weather) to curl themselves up 

 in an incurved spire, while at the same time they form 

 longitudinal creases, and look as though they were 

 gathered in or wrinkled. Thus the mouth of the flower 

 comes to be surrounded by five roUed-up bodies, which 

 at a hasty glance would lead one to think that the 

 flower was already faded ; but no sooner does evening 

 return than the wrinkles disappear, the petals become 

 smooth, uncurl themselves, and faU back against the 

 calyx, and the corolla is again expanded. 



The coloration of all these Caryophyllaceae is very , 

 peculiar. The inner surface of the petal is white, 

 while the outer or under side is greenish, or of a dirty 

 yellow or brownish tinge, or livid red, or almost ash- 



