Of Flowering, and its Results. 183 



f s ome large Aroideous plants, where an immense num- 

 ber ai blossoms are crowded together and muffled by a kind of 

 hood, or spadix, which confines and reverberates the heat. In 

 come of these, the temperature rises at times to twenty or even 

 fifty degrees (Fahrenheit) above the surrounding air. The in- 

 crease o( temperature occurs daily, from the time the flowers 

 open until they fade, but is most striking during the shedding 

 f the pollen. At night the temperature fails nearly to that of 

 the surrounding air; but in the course of the morning, the 

 heat comes on, as it were, like a paroxysm of fever, attain- 

 ing the maximum, day after day, very nearly at the same 

 hour of the afternoon, and gradually declining towards evening. 

 The source of the heat in flowering is evident. As to its ob- 

 ject, we cannot say whether its production is the immediate 

 end in view, and the plant burns some of its carbon merely as 

 fuel, or whether the evolution of heat and the formation of 

 carbonic acid are incidental consequences of certain necessary 

 transformations. We have remarked that the principal con- 

 sumption takes place in the flower; and that a store is laid up 

 in the fruit and seed. But much even of this is consumed, with 

 the evolution of heat, when the seed germinates. It may be 

 said, therefore, that in the Century Plant, which, after living a 

 hundred years, consumes itself for the benefit of its offspring, 

 who literally rise from its ashes, we have the realization of the 

 fabled Phoenix. 



There is another condition, which, if not essential to the 

 production of flowers, exerts an important influence. When 

 plants are in continual and luxuriant growth, rapidly pushing 

 forth leafy branches, they seldom produce flower buds. Our 

 fruit trees, in very moist seasons, or when cultivated in too rich 

 a soil, often grow luxuriantly, but do not .flower. The same 

 thing is observed when our northern fruit trees are transported 

 into tropical climates. On the other hand, whatever checks 

 this luxuriance, without affecting the health of the individual, 

 causes blossoms to appear earlier and more abundantly than 

 they otherwise would do. It is for this reason that transplanted 

 fruit trees incline to flower the first season after their removal, 

 though they may not blossom again for several years. A season 

 of comparative rest is essential to the transformation by which 



