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- 
nus 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. 
