STUDIES OF PLANT LIFE 
this gives it a crimped appearance which is singularly 
pretty as well as curious. It has been stated that a flash 
of phosphorescent light has been noticed at the instant the 
flower opens, but I think a tiny flash of such pale light 
would hardly be perceptible during the daylight; besides, 
the petals unclose gradually—the only sudden motion is the 
unclasping of the enfolding calyx leaves which emprison 
the corolla. Nevertheless it is a pretty idea, and it may be 
a fact, though not as yet a fully established one. I think 
it is Professor Lindley who has recorded the circumstance 
in his “ Natural System of Botany,” from the observation 
of some French naturalist. 
ENCHANTER’S NIGHTSHADE—Circea alpina (L.). 
With so ominous a name we might naturally expect to 
find some sad lurid-looking poisonous weed or sombre- 
leaved climber, instead of a very delicate, innocent-looking 
leafy plant, with thin light-green foliage and tiny white 
or pale pink blossoms dotted with minute spots of pale 
yellow, something like the old garden plant London Pride. 
One can hardly imagine so inoffensive a little flower being 
introduced by the ancient sibyls into connection with their 
unholy rites, nor understand why its classical name, 
Circea, after a horrible old enchantress, should have been 
retained by our modern botanists. 
We often wonder at the Greek names given to plants 
which are indigenous to other climes than Greece, and 
retained even where the significance is so obscure as to 
be questioned by our botanical writers. It is these hard 
classical names that frighten youthful students, especially 
young ladies, who are only too glad when they can meet 
with names of flowers that give them an insight into the 
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