THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 13 
hung upon their trunks. \ly attention was soon directed 
to a flat plant with a number of large leaves, in form like 
spear heads, arranged Hke a sunburst around the center. 
It was a plant I had never seen before. 
It was nearly as flat as a platter, except that there 
was a growth from the center, a sort of hollow tube of 
small circumference which extended several feet to the 
water below, the end of the tube being about four inches 
beneath the surface. I investigated the tube more closely 
and found to my surprise that it was sucking up water ! 
I could distincth' feel the inflow as I put my finger over 
the mouth of the tube. But my astonishment was un- 
bounded a minute later when I saw the tube begin to roll 
up, the process continuing until the coil thus formed had 
reached the middle of the plant, where it came to rest." 
This note has appeared in man3' newspapers, and has 
been sent to us for verification. Of course, no botanist 
needs to be told that no such plant exists. In the May 
number Floral Life follows this storv' with several others 
as wonderful, from which we select some of the best. 
THE NERVES OF PLANTS. 
"According to an expert in the Botanic Gardens at 
Washington, recent experiments there tend to confirm the 
theory that plants are possessed of nerves, and that some 
species are irritable and nervous to a marked degree. The 
genus Mimosa comprises about two hundred species, and 
most of these exhibit pecuHarly irritable natures if touched 
or handled in the wrong way. The Mimosa pudica, the 
botanical name of the most sensitive of all plants, is so 
highly organized that it is kept in a state of neurasthenia 
most of the time. A pufi'of wind, the tramping of heavy 
feet near it, or a rude touch of the hand will cause this 
plant literally to go into ner\'ous hysterics. It appears 
that the exciting noise or commotion strikes the nerves of 
the plant and causes it to close up and droop its leaves. 
Hundreds of sensitive plants have been diagnosed in the 
Botanic gardens, and the observers of the plants have 
traced the nerve centers to their foundation. In certain of 
