Some Physiological Observations on 

 Nelumbo nucifera, Gsertn. 



(Continued from p. 101.) 

 By 



K Miyake. 



2. Observations on flowering. 



There are two kinds in the color of the flower of Nelumbo nucifera, — 

 white and red. It is borne on the apex of a long stalk (150-250 cm. 

 long) and when opened it has the diameter 20-30 cm. 



The flowering takes place mainly from the middle of July to the end 

 of August, in the middle Japan. It is commonly said that a kind of 

 clapping sound can he heard, when the flower of this plant opens, which 

 takes place in the early morning. To testify whether this common belief 

 is correct or not I awoke early in the morning' and observed the flowering. 



The flower does not open at once, but the corolla which are arranged 

 in whorls disclose one by one from outward till the opening of the last 

 whorl, the petals of which seem to disclose at the same time, complete 

 the opening of entire flower. From the beginning of the opening of the 

 outermost petals to the complete opening of the flower, it takes one 

 hour or more. I observed many flowers in several mornings, but failed to 

 hear any clapping sound at the time of opening, except the very slight 

 rustles made by the rubbing of the petals, which could be heard when 

 the ear was brought close to the flowers just opening. 



The flower usually opens between five and six o'clock in the morning. 

 After a while it begins to close again and it is partly closed at eight 

 o'clock, almost closed at ten. When we see it at noon it is tightly 

 closed, so that we can not distinguish it from the bud which is yet un- 

 opened. One way of distinguishing one from the other is to examine 

 the stigma by partly opening the flower artificially. The stigma before 



