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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c0b8957 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #68239 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/68239) diff --git a/old/68239-0.txt b/old/68239-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 6f4d440..0000000 --- a/old/68239-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,5357 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of Personality of plants, by Royal Dixon - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: Personality of plants - -Authors: Royal Dixon - Franklyn E. Fitch - -Release Date: June 4, 2022 [eBook #68239] - -Language: English - -Produced by: The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at - https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images - generously made available by The Internet Archive) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PERSONALITY OF PLANTS *** - - - - - -_PERSONALITY OF PLANTS_ - -[Illustration: The Fuchsia has a Distinctive and Esthetic Manner.] - - - - - PERSONALITY - OF PLANTS - - _By_ ROYAL DIXON _and_ - FRANKLYN E. FITCH - - [Illustration] - - New York - BOULLION-BIGGS - 1923 - - - - - Copyright, 1923, by - BOULLION-BIGGS, Inc. - - _All Rights Reserved_ - - - PRINTED IN U. S. A. - - - - - CONTENTS - - - Page - - INTRODUCTION 11 - - ORIGIN OF PLANTS 17 - - LIFE OF A PLANT 27 - - MIGRATIONS OF PLANTS 39 - - COMRADES OF THE PLANT WORLD 57 - - ALLIES OF THE PLANT WORLD 69 - - MARRIAGE CUSTOMS OF PLANTS 83 - - ART IN THE PLANT WORLD 95 - - MUSIC IN THE PLANT WORLD 110 - - SCIENCE IN THE PLANT WORLD 122 - - RELIGION IN THE PLANT WORLD 141 - - PLANT MYTHOLOGY 154 - - MYSTICISM IN THE PLANT WORLD 167 - - PLANT INTELLIGENCE 186 - - THE HIGHER LIFE OF PLANTS 204 - - PLANTS & MEN 215 - - - - - To - - EDWIN MARKHAM - - and - - ANNA CATHERINE MARKHAM - - who live their poetry. - - - - - “That nothing walks with aimless feet; - That not one life shall be destroyed; - Or cast as rubbish to the void, - When God hath made the pile complete; - - “That not one worm is cloven in vain; - That not a moth with vain desire - Is shrivel’d in a fruitless fire, - Or but subserves another’s gain.” - - --_Tennyson._ - - - - -INTRODUCTION - - -“The natural world, so to speak, is the raw material of the spiritual. -Therefore, ere man can understand the spiritual, he must understand the -natural,” writes Thomas Gentry. - -The authors of this book would go a step further and say that the -natural world _is_ the spiritual. Soul and body, ephemeral and -material, on this plane of existence are ineffably bound together. -If you would climb to sublime heights of ghostly exaltation, study -first the grass at your feet. If you would unravel the mysteries of -the universe, desert the cloistered hearth for the wonders of woods -and meadows. Slow-thinking man will never understand the secret of his -own existence, until he thoroughly understands the plants outside his -window. - -For one to examine dead, withered specimens and hope to understand -Nature is as if a person should analyze hundreds of Egyptian mummies -in order to acquaint himself with the human race. You must seek the -flowers on their native heath and treat them as friends and equals. -Too often is the human creature inclined to look upon members of the -vegetable kingdom as things apart from the world of life--insensate -beings which can be cut down and trampled without offense--mere -“growths,” more akin to earth and stone than to himself. - -As a matter of fact, among the many forms of matter which exist on this -earth of ours, the only clear-cut division is between the organic and -the inorganic. The primary characteristic which distinguishes a living -creature from inanimate objects about it is, in the words of Arthur -Dendy, its power of “reacting toward its environment in such a manner -as to conduce to its own well-being; of controlling not only its own -behaviour but also the behaviour alike of its fellow creatures and of -inanimate objects, in its own interests, thereby maintaining its own -position in the universal struggle for existence.” - -If this, then, is the one characteristic which distinguishes all -terrestrial life, it follows that all creatures from the unicellular -protoza to man himself are intimately related, are all part and -parcel of the same system, are recognizable by differences in degree -but not in kind, and are all interesting manifestations of that -mysterious thing we call life. No creature lives or dies to itself. The -correlation of organisms in Nature is similiar to the correlation of -organs in individual plants and animals. - -If the reader will but face this fact, he will approach the study of -Nature with a new reverence. He will recognize the oneness and kinship -of all life. - -It is largely the object of this book to explore the inner recesses of -breathing and thinking plantdom--to take the reader beyond the limits -of text-book botany into regions of sympathetic insight--to show how -even human arts and sciences are unchangeably bound up with the lives -and hopes of the grasses and flowers. - -To do this comprehensively, it has been thought wise not only to -indicate how plants think and act but to incorporate a broad general -history of their race stretching back to their first appearance on -the planet and carried forward to the Burbank creations. With this -knowledge in hand, we are better equipped to approach that fascinating -realm which touches on the intelligence, the spirituality, the -mysticism, the psychic phenomena, the higher life of plants. - -In all this, the manifest independence of plant life and purpose is -convincingly apparent. The plants have their own lives to lead and -their own evolutionary processes to carry on. They completed the -conquest of the earth long before the first human being appeared on its -surface. Out of approximately a hundred thousand species of flowering -plants, it has been estimated that only two hundred and forty-seven -render direct and important service to man, and of these, only about -fifty-four are utilized by him to any great extent. - -While today it is no longer the fashion to believe that plants were -created for man’s _sole_ benefit, yet it cannot be denied that, -because of their physical limitations and inferior intelligence, the -plants frequently become very docile servants of the human race, -thereby thriving mightily and to their own great advantage. This is -as it should be. It is a law of earthly life. The danger lies in the -contempt which this servitude engenders in the consciousness of man, -the master. The plants are inferiors but very wonderful inferiors. We -should accord them the highest respect. We should accept our dominion -over them as a favour of a beneficent Providence,--a priceless gift -which it is criminal to squander or misuse. - - - - -CHAPTER I - -Origin of Plants - - “_’Tis a quaint thought, and yet perchance, - Sweet blossoms, ye have sprung - From flowers that over Eden once - Their pristine fragrance flung._” - - -“In the beginning God created the heaven and earth. And the earth was -without form and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And -the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let -there be light: and there was light!” - -There is no greater mystery than the mystery of creation. Nowhere is -its story told more eloquently and more scientifically than in the -opening words of Genesis. All the fruitage of centuries of research but -reaffirms this ancient narrative. - -In the early days of this planet, when its crust was scarcely hardened -from the molten state, there reigned what might be called the age of -water. The entire surface of the globe was covered with a sea of -restless, moving liquid, overcharged with a heavy atmosphere of vapour, -so dense that not a single ray of light could penetrate it. As the -process of cooling went on, more and more moisture condensed out of the -air, until finally the first ray of light reached the universal sea and -terrestrial day began. - -Here in this dim, watery world, about the time that the first land -began to emerge from the deep, by some divine, mysterious agency, the -first life was born. - -No doubt it was one-celled, free-moving, and like modern Flagellates, -partaking of the nature of both plant and animal. - -Slowly, and in response to evolutionary promptings, simple aquatic -plant forms began to develop from the primary single cells. Animal -life may have begun a simultaneous development, but if it did, it did -not become strong enough to make any impress on the geologic rock from -which we draw our data. - -Certainly the plants were in the ascendency. The mobile green Algae -were characteristic of the time. It is a remarkable thing that though -they are probably the progenitors of all that vast world of vegetable -life which enriches the world today, the Algae have always gone on -reproducing their own kind. Today we can watch, under a microscope, the -activities of the first form of terrestrial life, born incalculable -aeons ago. - -Mayhap the earth would be peopled exclusively by Algae and similar -forms today, if it had not been for a prehistoric accident. One day, -the water suddenly receded from a bit of land and left some Algae in -the mud behind it. Now, the Algae had always been used to plenty of -water and they saw that unless they did some quick thinking, they -were in danger of drying up and blowing away. Accordingly, by common -consent, they secreted and surrounded themselves with a jelly-like mass -capable of absorbing and holding water. The amphibious Liverworts and -the _Ricciocarpus Natans_ do the same thing today. - -With the Algae successfully living in the mud, surrounded by their -mucilaginous water-reservoirs, it was but a step for some enterprising -individual to extend a portion of his own tissue in search of more -water. By this simple act, the first root came into being, and lo! -there were terrestrial plants. - -It is to be noted that all development in the plant world is born of -necessity. To the plants, dependence upon water, food and the impulse -to reproduction may be ascribed the start of many a new form among -them. In the more complex groups we seem to see a conscious striving -for higher and better things, but the lowlier species often need the -goad of circumstance to force them to attainment. - -When the plants first emerged upon the land, a number of structural -changes became necessary. Whereas in the marine world, water is -absorbed directly by all parts of the plant, in land life special -organs of absorption and conductivity must be developed. At first, the -roots were mere rhizoids or hairs, aided by water-drinking leaves and -tubers, as in the Mosses and Liverworts today; but it was not long -before true root and vascular systems were evolved. Other changes which -came with terrestrial life were greater rigidity of tissue and devices -to guard against evaporation. Leaves were developed for the purposes of -manufacturing starch by photosynthesis, spreading out into thin layers -in order to present the greatest possible surface. - -These lower land plants retained and still retain some characteristics -of their aquatic ancestry, notably swimming spore cells, as in the -Mosses. The formation of rigid cellulose about vegetable cells stops -their movement, except when cilia or projections of protoplasm extend -through openings in the cell walls. The Liverworts were probably among -the first real land plants: their spores are non-motile and they have a -massive, foot-like organ for the absorption of water. - -To the liberality of Nature we must ascribe the development of the law -which ties the plants to the soil. They started out as animals, but -enjoyed such an abundance of food that it became unnecessary for them -to go in search for it. Water and carbon dioxide, which formed their -principal means of subsistence, were all about them; they settled -down to a life of quiet ease. When Corals, Sponges, Oysters and other -lower animals are similarly situated, they become as firmly rooted as -any plant. Moreover, they have free-swimming larvae analogous to the -active zoospores of certain members of the plant world. - -The first land vegetation of the globe must have presented a curious -spectacle. Imagine a forest consisting of endless repetitions of -Algae, Fungi, Lichens, Liverworts and Mosses, with many forms of -gigantic sizes. The fresh-water Algae early developed a clever device -to save their race from extinction by drought. Certain cells in each -plant became hard and devoid of water, presenting that phenomenon of -suspended animation to be observed in many of the higher seeds. When -drought overtook any particular plant, it died, but these special -restive cells lived, and were carried about by the wind or other -agencies until a new abundance of moisture called them out of their -trance. As zygotes, they exist in the Nostoc today. - -The first plants were non-sexual and propagated by cell division. They -were therefore capable of little advancement. With the introduction -of the sex element, infinite possibilities for racial improvement -and differentiation were opened up. The Mosses and Ferns belonging -to the family _Archegoniatae_ early established an alternation of -generation in which the spores give rise to a small plant which looks -like a Liverwort and bears the reproductive organs. The fertilized ovum -of this plant grows into a leafy, sexless individual which produces -spores non-sexually. We therefore have a generation endowed with sex -organs making for development and progress, alternating with a sexless -generation calculated to continue the tendencies of the race. - -It is undoubtedly the sex element which accounts for those “sports” or -mutations in plantdom which occasionally overstep the limits of species -to form new species. - -In the luxurious atmosphere of the early globe, vegetation waxed -strong and vigorous and attained remarkable proportions. The primeval -woods served to draw the superabundant carbon from the air and in -millions of decayed bodies store it up as graphite, coal, petroleum and -illuminating gas. The present day graphite beds alone represent vast -quantities of ancient vegetation. It is a unique experience to be able -to write or draw pictures of these prehistoric plants and use, in the -carbon of our pencils, portions of their very bodies. - -Everything was on a grand scale in the “Old Red Sandstone” age. There -were no real trees yet, but the Asterophyllites, with their tall, -slender stems, looked much like Palms. The Eryptogams were immense -Mushrooms. Algae, Zostera and Psilophytons covered the shores with a -tangle of seaweed vegetation. - -In the succeeding carboniferous period, the plant world reached the -climax of its dominion. While the variety was still very much limited, -its vigor and luxuriance were astounding. The Tree-ferns seem to have -come down to us unchanged from that time, but other plant descendants -have dwindled in size greatly. Our humble Mares’ Tails were then twenty -or thirty foot trees called Calamites. The Club-Mosses were giant -Lepidodendrons. Other immense plants which have no direct descendants -were the Sigillarias and the Lomatophylos. With its flexible, fluted -and checkered stems, saw-edged leaves, and hanging garlands of -parasitic Ferns, the carboniferous forest presented a remarkable scene. - -The air was still very moist, covering the entire earth with a -permanent fog and a uniform temperature. It is said that certain -present-day islands in the Pacific Ocean approximate these ancient -conditions. - -All the plants of that time were flowerless, and belonged to neither -the monocotyledonous nor the dicotyledonous classes, which include the -greater number of families today. Thanks to many excellent specimens -found in coal mines, it is possible for scientists to classify as many -as five hundred families. It is believed that coal itself was mostly -formed from small plants, but often entire trunks of the tree-like -forms are found in bituminous strata. Bits of bark, cones and petrified -leaves have also been unearthed at different times. - -In the course of evolution, the Conifer trees were the next to develop -extensively. They gained a great ascendency, but were succeeded by -Palms, Alders, Cypress and Elms. By the Miocene period, all the -forms known in tropic Africa today had come into existence, but were -restricted by no such regional limitations as they labour under now. -Oaks and Palms, Birches and Bamboos, Elms and Laurels grew side by -side. The Palms reached as far north as Bohemia, Switzerland and -Belgium. Maples, Lindens, Planes, Spruces, Magnolias, Persimmons -and Pines flourished in Greenland. The Silver Fir and the Southern -Cypress advanced to within two hundred leagues of the North Pole. -The California Redwoods and Sequoias are survivors of a race which -flourished in this age. - -Man came very late in the earth’s evolution, but he has had a profound -effect upon the plant world. His most noteworthy feat has been to take -comparatively weak plants like the grains and, for his own purposes, -give them large areas in which to grow. Wheat, Maize, Yams and Tobacco -became widely diffused as cultivated plants before the historic era. It -is probable that Rice and the Legumes were first domesticated in Asia; -Barley and Wheat in Egypt; and Maize, Potatoes, Yams and Manioc in -America. - -The origin and development of plants is a fascinating study. So -authentic are the records which they have left in the eternal rocks -that we have little difficulty in reconstructing their entire race -history. - -[Illustration: THE LIFE OF A DAISY IS SPENT IN BRIGHTENING OUR FIELDS -AND PASTURES] - - - - -CHAPTER II - -LIFE OF A PLANT - - “_We cannot pass a blade of grass unheeded by the way, - For it whispers to our thoughts and we its silent voice obey._” - - --_J. E. Carpenter_ - - -The growth and development of a plant, though such a common thing, -is full of very real wonder and mystery. It takes only a little -observation to discover the various stages in the process, but how they -are brought about and by what laws they are governed, not even the most -astute investigators can always say. - -To the lay mind, the statement that the plants depend upon the soil -for their nourishment is quite self-evident, yet it is extremely -inaccurate. It is now quite certain that the vegetable world relies -upon the _air_ for its largest and most important food supply. The -great mass of carbon which is the chief constituent of all plant -structure is drawn almost exclusively from the atmosphere. While it is -true that many vital elements are obtained from the earth, all green -plants manufacture the greater part of their solid material out of -the carbon dioxide of the air. Of what the plants do obtain from the -soil, water makes up the largest bulk. The bread and meat of the plant -world is carbon dioxide; the drink is soil water in which is dissolved -certain essential salts and condiments. - -A chemical analysis of a Green Pea will show approximately 46.5% of -carbon, 4.2% of nitrogen and 3.1% of all other elements, exclusive of -the hydrogen and oxygen which make up the water permeating all tissue. - -This is truly a startling fact. Instead of belonging to the earth, -the plants then belong primarily to the air. The air is their natural -habitat; the earth serves to give them a fixed place in the world and -provide them with flavoured water to drink. - -Plants are born from seeds, the joint product of two previous -individuals; they live by eating and drinking; they marry and in turn -rear families of their own. It is our purpose in this chapter to show, -in a very definite way, that this is not mere figurative language but a -common-sense statement of fact. - -The cycle of plant life can be illustrated by any dicotyledonous, -herbaceous annual. If one is so inclined he may hark back to his high -school days and plant a few Beans in a box as a practical illustration -of the facts stated here. - -The first action of the planted Bean is to absorb water to a prodigious -amount, and so wake the quiescent life forces which may have been -slumbering within it for years. It is a law of animal and vegetable -life that all vital processes must be performed in solution. Without -water, life is dead or somnolent. - -When Nature made the Bean, she left a small opening or window in -its skin-wall called the micropyle. Through this opening of the -water-swollen seed, now issue two pale sprouts. One is long and -pointed; it is the radicle or incipient root. The other is stubbier -and is tipped by a cluster of folded, yellow-green leaves; it is the -plumule or incipient stem. With unerring exactness, the radicle grows -down into the soil and the plumule feels its way up into the air. - -By this time, the seed has burst its walls and split into two halves, -which indicates that it belongs to the dicotyledonous group of plants. -As the seedling continues to grow, these cotyledons begin to shrink -and shrivel. The plant is living on their substance until it can begin -to make its own. In the case of the Bean, the stem lifts the emaciated -cotyledons up into the air, where they act as leaves until the tiny -green things at the stem’s tip have expanded into those important -organs. - -When the first leaves have fully opened and the spent cotyledons have -dropped off as mere empty shells, the independent life of the plant may -be said to have begun. We are now in a position to examine its methods -of living. - -Examining the root, we find that by this time it has expanded into -many branches. Each tip is a tiny mouth through which the plant drinks -the all-important water and mineral salts. Root tips exercise great -ingenuity; they feel their way underground, touching here, recoiling -there, and searching out the elements necessary to the plant’s economy -with wonderful sagacity. - -The actual absorption is done by minute filaments or hairs which take -in water and its dissolved contents by osmotic action. They secrete -a digestive fluid which renders certain minerals soluble, and by a -strange intelligence, select the kind and amount of material they -take in. In certain groups of plants, notably the Legumes, colonies -of Bacteria take the place of root hairs, and by a reciprocal action, -provide the plant with the nitrogenous elements which it craves. - -The principal food of most vital importance taken in by the roots is -nitrogen. Nitrogen is one of the basic elements of protoplasm, the -life fluid of the living cell. Where there is life, there is nitrogen. -Sulphur, phosphorous, silica, iron and other elements are also needed -in small quantities. - -The root hairs are constructed so as to allow fluids to pass in but not -out. The continual absorption of water results in a mechanical pressure -which automatically forces the sap up through the stem to all parts of -the plant. The process is aided by the evaporation of water from the -leaves, through the partial vacuum created by them at the top of the -system. Pushed from below and pulled from above, the sap of a tree, -for instance, moves with a propulsive power greater than the blood -pressure of the strongest animal. - -Above the roots and the stem of the developing plant are the branches. -Their function is too well known to need much comment. They raise -the leaves up into the air and the light. They act as conduits for -ascending and descending sap. They give the plant strength and -rigidity. Each main stem is a clever bit of plant engineering, so built -as to withstand all kinds of heavy strains and stresses. - -The leaves of our seedling are extremely important parts of its -anatomy. Pluck them off and it will die in a few hours. They are -mouths, stomachs and lungs all in one. Their surfaces are broad and -flat, in order that they may catch and devour every particle of -carbon dioxide which comes their way. To us, carbon dioxide is a -negligible part of the atmosphere, but out of this intangible product -of combustion, arising from fires, breathed out by animals and expelled -by volcanoes and hot springs, the tallest tree builds its greatest -structure. Is it any wonder that it takes so long! - -In the inner tissue of each leaf is a substance called chlorophyll. -It is the material which gives leaves their green colour. It is one -of the most important substances in plantdom. Under the influence of -sunlight, this chlorophyll takes the carbon dioxide of the air, and, -with water and certain minerals, makes starch, the raw material of -plant construction. This process, called photosynthesis, goes on while -the sun shines, and stops with the approach of darkness. The necessity -of plenty of light cannot be overestimated. - -In the manufacture of starch, oxygen occurs as a by-product. As -the plant has no use for this element, it is breathed out from -the surface of the leaves. From the standpoint of man, this makes -plants atmospheric purifiers. At night, when the making of starch is -suspended, there is often a superabundance of carbon dioxide within -plant structures. It is this gas which is now exhaled, though in very -small amounts. Some authorities maintain that the excess of carbon -dioxide is contained in water absorbed by the roots. In the daytime -this is welcomed as additional starch material, but at night there is -no use for it. - -Another substance which is always present in excess of plant needs is -water. It is essential as a tissue builder and also as a carrier of -nourishment. Its continual evaporation from the leaf surfaces furnishes -one of the sources of motive power for the circulatory system. The rate -of evaporation is controlled by the stomata, little pores or mouths -which have contractible lips. In the Lilac there are as many as one -hundred and twenty thousand stomata to the square inch. They are nearly -always located on the under surface of the leaves. - -Certain plants like the Cacti seem to be able to get along without -leaves, but thick, fleshy sections of stem perform all their functions. -The Fungi and other parasites differ from most plants in that they have -no chlorophyll for starch-making but live on the already elaborated -tissue of living or dead neighbors. - -When our seedling grows old enough, it marries and has a family. Among -the higher plants, the sexes are quite distinct. There are such things -as male plants and such things as female plants, but more often both -sexes occur in the same individual and frequently in the same flowers. -The Hop, Nettle, and Date Palm are one-sex plants. Maize has flowers of -different sexes on the same stem. - -Flowers are the reproductive organs. In the blossom of the Bean, the -stamens are the male organs and the pistil is the female organ. The -stamens produce dust-like pollen which is conveyed by the wind to the -pistil of some other flower. Pollen grains deposited on the stigma of -the pistil are held there by a sticky secretion until they can grow -a long tube which travels down the style, eventually reaching and -fertilizing the tiny ovules or eggs. - -The ovules then develop into seeds and the pistil grows into a pod, on -both of which the parent plant bends all its energies to give a good -start in the world. - -The cycle is now complete. We have another Bean and are back to where -we started, ready for some other fellow to plant the new Bean and -perform the experiment all over again. - -This is the story in brief, but there are many other details. The -different plants have invented and perfected all kinds of devices -to secure the effective propagation of the race. The Hazel and the -Grasses hang their stamens out in the wind in order that it may blow -their pollen to some other plant, which is waiting with feathered -pistil to catch it. Most garden plants depend on the insects to act as -pollen carriers and display gorgeous flower-petals and nectar pits with -which to attract them. Many plants aim to prevent self-fertilization by -having the stamens and the pistil come to maturity at different times. - -The plants go to great lengths to secure an advantageous distribution -of their offspring. The nature of a plant is to live by growing. When -it has reached a prescribed height, it must continue the process by -producing new individuals to carry on the cycle. It gives its children -a start in the world by providing them with wings, bladders, feathers, -spikes, thorns, sticky secretions, submarines, boats, and kites, -according to the method of travel they are to use. Sometimes the -matured pistil or fruit is dispersed entire. Sometimes it opens and -shoots the seeds out. The Violet and Oxalis act like veritable guns, so -vigorously do they expel their seeds. There are seed-capsules, like -those of the Primrose and Xanthium Spinosum, which open at the top so -that only a high and efficient wind can dislodge the seeds. - -The problem of food storage is an important one in plantdom. Annuals -die when they have flowered and produced seed. Perennials wither but -persist for a number of seasons and sometimes many years. Those whose -stems or trunks are permanent withdraw their starch and chlorophyll -into their cambium layer where it is safe from freezing. Those which -die down to the ground each fall store up food material in underground -stems and roots in sufficient amount to get a good start the following -season. The Potato is an enlargement of the underground stem, but -Carrots, Beets, and Turnips are bulbous roots. Hyacinths, Tulips, -Daffodils, Snowdrops, Crocuses, and Buttercups all store food material -in bulbs. Practically all wild flowers which come up early in the -spring, feed upon the nutriment manufactured during the previous season. - -Buds represent the foliage of the coming season. Each fall, trees and -bushes prepare for next year’s growth by putting forth miniature -shoots and leaves folded up in warm brown overcoats. At spring’s urgent -call, the buds have merely to cast aside their coverings and step out -into the warm sunlight. These buds really make a tree a community of -individuals, because each one is capable of reproducing everything that -has occurred on the plant up to that point. This is the principle on -which grafting is carried on. - -The most wonderful thing in all plant structure is the plant cell. -There are anywhere from six thousand to twelve thousand of these living -units to the square inch. In their restless, moving protoplasm lies -the mystery of life--the directing energy which controls the plant’s -activities and makes it a conscious, intelligent organism. - -[Illustration: IF THIS AGED CEDAR COULD TELL ITS LIFE’S STORY, WE WOULD -FIND IT FULL OF ROMANCE AND ADVENTURE] - - - - -CHAPTER III - -Migrations of Plants - - “_Race after race of leaves and men - Bloom, wither and are gone; - As winds and water rise and fall - So life and death roll on._” - - -We are so in the habit of thinking of plants as fixed and static things -that it rarely occurs to us that they migrate over the earth’s surface -quite as extensively as do men or animals. - -While it is probably true that vegetation originated simultaneously -at different points on the globe’s surface, not much observation is -necessary to indicate that it does not always stay where it is put. -Plants are peculiar and native to certain lands in a very definite -way, but their love of adventure often carries them to the far corners -of the earth. They are the most energetic and effective colonizers in -existence. The complete history of plantdom would include the stories -of invasions, conquests and revolutions quite as stirring as anything -in human annals. - -If it is absorbing to follow the racial movements of man, ancient and -modern, it is equally fascinating for a lover of plants to investigate -_their_ migratory habits. We have exact records of many of their -travels and can make interesting conjectures about the rest. - -To a layman, the present distribution of plants may seem chaotic. He -reads that certain families are natives of Europe and Australia, or -North America and Africa and are absent from all intervening countries. -The Alpine species _Primulas_ and _Saxifrages_ are common to both -the Arctic and the Antarctic. There are fifty-eight European and New -Zealand species which are identical. The British Grass _Poa Annua_ is -also found in the Andes of Brazil. Through what thousands of years of -change and evolution have these things come about! Yet the results are -no more complex than was the filling of America with its mixed and -conglomerate human population. - -In a general way, there is a measure of fixity to plant distribution. -Certain plants have elected the tropics as their home; and only under -the greatest stress of circumstance can they be induced to go elsewhere. - -Tropical heat and moisture make for luxuriance of vegetation. There -is a much greater variety there than in the North. Woody Vines climb -the tallest trunks, where they intermingle their leaves and blossoms -with those of their host. Gorgeous Air Plants beautify and perfume the -forest. Stately Palms wave magnificent bouquets of pendulous fronds. - -As we travel away from the equator, the vegetation takes on a simpler -aspect. There are more annuals and more herbs. The number of Ferns, -Grasses, and catkin-bearing Trees, like the Alder and the Birch, -increase. The limited growing seasons make for a more restricted -accumulation of tissue. Such tropic plants as have braved the rigours -of the colder climates have dwindled much in size. The Castor Oil Tree -becomes a humble annual (_Ricinus Communis_) only three to eight feet -in height. Other tropical trees become so small that temperate zone -folk tread them under foot. - -When we get into the polar regions, all the plants take on a stunted -and dwarfed appearance and, in some cases, retire almost entirely -under ground. The number of genera and species is much reduced. The -Oak, Walnut, Chestnut and Elm are replaced by the hardy conifers. At -the point where vegetation becomes almost extinct are dwarf Birches, -Willows and polar Blackberries (_Rubus Arcticus_). The simple Mosses -and Lichens mark the last lingering evidences of life. - -A curious feature of plant life in the polar regions is the rapid -growth which it often exhibits. The summer of the Far North is short -but it is one day of intense and blinding light. The sun shines -continually throughout each twenty-four hours. By virtue of its -stimulating power, plants are able to perform in a few weeks processes -of development which take months under ordinary conditions. - -It is illuminating to take a single country in a more favoured climate -and, as far as possible, trace its plant history. The British Isles, -because of their limited area, are a convenient field of study. An -investigation of their settlement by plants gives us many hints about -prehistoric climatic and geographical changes. - -Geologists generally believe that the British Isles were once joined -to the mainland of Europe. It was at this time that they were settled -by vegetation. Some of this plant life came from Spain and some from -southwest France; there was also a Germanic group. The floating ice of -the glacial period brought over hardy visitors from the Scandinavian -peninsula. A few plant immigrants arrived from North America and landed -on the west coast of Ireland. - -St. Helena is an isolated volcanic mass built up seventeen thousand -feet from the bed of the ocean. It therefore has its own peculiar -vegetation, a portion of which is believed to have been evolved on the -spot from the one-celled state. According to Sir Joseph Hooker, forty -out of fifty flowering plants and ten out of twenty-six Ferns “with -scarcely an exception cannot be regarded as very close specific allies -of any other plants at all.” Sixteen of the Ferns are common to Africa, -India or America and were probably carried there by the wind. Ocean -currents also brought other species from Africa. - -In 1883, a most interesting thing occurred on the Asiatic island of -Krakatoa. A violent volcanic eruption wiped every vestige of life -off its surface. When the flow of lava ceased and the earth cooled -once more, Krakatoa was to all intents and purposes a volcanic island -newly risen from the sea. It presented the exact analogy of a recently -created bit of land waiting to be settled by the plants. In 1883, it -was as barren as the face of the moon. In 1888, a Mr. Hemsley described -its appearance as follows:-- - -“The first phase of the new vegetation, was a thin film of microscopic -fresh-water Algae, forming a green, slimy coating, such as may often -be seen on damp rocks, and furnishing a hygroscopic condition, in the -absence of which it is doubtful whether the Ferns by which they were -followed could have established themselves. Both Algae and Ferns are -reproduced from microscopic spores, which are readily conveyed long -distances by winds. Eleven species of Ferns were found, all of very -wide distribution, and some of them had already become common the -fourth year after the eruption. Scattered here and there among the -Ferns were isolated individuals of flowering plants, belonging to such -kinds as have succulent seed-vessels eaten by birds, or such as have a -light, feathery seed-vessel like the Dandelion and a host of others, -and are wafted from place to place by the winds. - -“On the seashore there were young plants and seeds (or seed-vessels -containing seeds) of upwards of a dozen other herbs, shrubs and trees, -all of them common on coral islands, and all known to have seeds -capable of bearing long immersion in sea water without injury. Among -the established seedlings were those of several large trees, and a -Convolvulus that grows on almost all tropical coasts, often forming -runners one hundred yards in length. There were Cocoanuts also, though -none had germinated.” - -The farther such an island is from the land, the longer will vegetation -take to get established. Darwin found that the isolated islands of -Keeling, after thousands of years of existence, contained only twenty -kinds of flowering plants. - -Although plants have no legs they are not devoid of mobility. When man -uses the propulsive power of steam to travel by, he shows no greater -ingenuity than do plants in their use of special devices of locomotion. - -Species like the Tumble Weed (_Amarantus Albus_) pull up stakes, and, -consigning themselves to the swift autumn winds, race across country -at great speed, scattering seeds as they go. The Utriculariae or -Bladderworts are true sailors and float about on inland streams like -little ships. The Duckweeds and Wolffias also have aquatic habits. - -However, most plants prefer to travel in embryo. In the form of small -and microscopic seeds the force of gravity has little influence on -them, and they can journey for long and incredible distances. - -To this end practically every seed in existence is provided with -some apparatus or appendage designed to help it make its way in the -world. The Elm, the Linden, and the Ash bear winged seeds, which -are so efficient in riding the breeze that they are really miniature -aeroplanes. The double wings of the Maple are very much like those of -an insect. The seeds are released from their container in such manner -as to acquire a whirling motion as they fall. - -The progeny of the Willow is provided with long projecting hairs which -curl together to form a tiny balloon. Feathery attachments called -pappus enable the children of the Dandelion, the Thistle and the Fire -Weed to go on long jaunts of exploration. - -The seed-pods of the Sycamore are great rollers. Even ordinary nuts and -fruits may be blown to considerable distances by the strong winds of -autumn. The many edible seeds and fruits are carried gratis by birds -and animals. The Mistletoe, for instance, is distributed entirely by -them. - -Walnuts, Butternuts, and Acorns bear water travel well, as do certain -of the hard seeds. The Arrowhead (_Sagittaria_) has a self-made -water-wing on which its offspring float. - -Plant seeds, which like to travel on animals, all provide themselves -with grappling irons in the shape of sharp hooks, spurs and spines with -which they cling to their carriers. Everybody in the northern United -States knows of the avidity with which the Cockle-bur clings to any -passing object. The Touch-me-not (_Impatiens_), the Wistaria, and a -host of others, actually shoot their seeds from their pods as from a -gun. - -Every vagrant breeze, every purling brook, every deep river, every -ocean current, is a highway of travel in plantdom. The birds, the -beasts, the insects, and not least, man himself, are involuntary -vehicles on which our vegetable friends tour the world. The spores of -Mosses, Lichens, Fungi and other cryptogams are so light that they -find no difficulty in mounting into the air and traveling across the -Atlantic or Pacific Oceans at will. - -The complete record of plant conquests would fill many volumes. Their -operations have extended into every land and have had influence on the -world’s history. It very often happens that plant invaders become so -quickly and thoroughly naturalized in a strange country that they go -a long way toward supplanting the original inhabitants in a very short -time. - -It was Darwin who first noticed the extensive conquests of the Cardoon -Artichoke (_Cynara Cardunculus_) in South America. In one section, -these prickly plants covered an area of several hundred square miles, -having entirely superceded the aborigines. - -It is well known that the most troublesome of the American weeds are of -British origin. On the other hand, the American water weed _Anacharis_ -blocks up small English streams. The grass called _Stipa Tortilis_ -has captured the steppes of southern Russia. The love of change seems -to be an inherent tendency in plantdom. The Pigweed and the Morning -Glory have come north from the tropics. The Canada Thistle, originally -a foreigner in North America, has spread all over Canada and New -England. The American _Erigeron Canadense_ has emigrated to all parts -of the world. The flora of Scandinavia, like its people, are aggressive -colonizers. More than one hundred and fifty species have reached New -Zealand alone and nearly as many have established themselves in the -eastern United States. - -Some plants seem to be able to adapt themselves to any climate and -therefore are born explorers, but the greater number are too fastidious -regarding conditions of soil, heat, light and moisture to thrive well -everywhere. It is a noticeable fact that the most successful plant -invaders usually come in the wake of human colonizers and stick to the -sphere of man’s influence. For example, the Butter-and-Eggs (_Linaria -Linaria_) has followed the railroad tracks almost entirely over the -tropical and semi-tropical world. Sometimes, however, hardy plants -advance into the primeval jungle, there to give battle to its lusty -inhabitants. - -On the whole, annuals have a better chance than perennials to gain a -foothold in a new country. Every spring the weeds, grasses, and common -flowering plants have to start all over again from a seed beginning. -The spores of newcomers, therefore, have almost an equal chance -with the established inhabitants. On the other hand, the bodies of -perennials occupy the land in close-packed ranks all the year, ready -to dispute every inch of ground with an aggressor. It is very hard for -new plants to gain entrance into a well-grown forest. - -Man has been of tremendous aid in the distribution of plants over the -earth’s surface. Either consciously or unconsciously he takes his -plants with him wherever he goes. - -It was the Emperor Chang-Chien who carried the Bean, Cucumber, Lucerne, -Saffron, Walnut, Pea, Spinach and Watermelon from Asia to China about -200 B. C. The period of Roman conquest was a great epoch in the history -of plant migrations. The Peach and the Apricot first became prominent -as fruits at that time. Roman generals introduced the Pear, Peach, -Cherry, Mulberry, Walnut and many ornamental shrubs into England. - -From an obscure native of Bengal, the Sugar Cane has become an -important plant of wide distribution. Coffee, a wild berry of Arabia, -is now the chief crop of whole countries in the West Indies and South -America. The yellow Maize of America has become a citizen of the world. -The weak and humble Wheat is the sole possessor of thousands of square -miles of land in America, Russia and elsewhere. - -All this has been wrought by man’s efforts. When it is to his interest, -he fights the battles of plantdom, and because of his superior -knowledge and equipment is of tremendous service. Sometimes, however, -he gives aid to his plant friends through motives that are quite -unselfish. A romantic story is related of a French naval officer named -Declieux who once elected to carry a Coffee Plant to the Colony of -Martinique. The supply of water ran low during the voyage, and, rather -than see the plant die, the man shared his daily glass with it, at -considerate discomfort to himself. - -Until man becomes all-wise, he will continue to make mistakes; and -not least of these will be in connection with his investigations into -the mysteries of Nature. It has happened more than once that he has -introduced some new plant into an old land, or vice versa, and lived to -thoroughly regret his action. - -Sometime in 1890, a generously inclined individual threw a Water -Hyacinth into the St. Johns River in Florida. In the space of a few -short years, that single plant had multiplied so prodigiously as to -seriously impede navigation, lumbering and fishing. - -Jack London tells of a similiar thing that happened in Hawaii: “In -the United States, in greenhouses and old-fashioned gardens, grows a -potted flowering shrub called Lantana; in India dwells a very noisy -and quarrelsome bird known as the Myna. Both were introduced into -Hawaii--the bird to feed upon the cut-worm of a certain moth; the -flower to gladden with old associations the heart of a flower-loving -missionary. But the land loved the Lantana. From a small flower that -grew in a pot, the Lantana took to itself feet and walked out of the -pot into the missionary’s garden. Here it flourished and increased -mightily in size and constitution. From over the garden wall came the -love call of all Hawaii, and the Lantana responded to the call, climbed -over the wall, and went a-roving and a-loving in the wild woods. - -“And just as the Lantana had taken to itself feet, by the seduction of -its seed it added to itself the wings of the Myna, which distributed -its seed over every island in the group. From a delicate, -hand-manicured, potted plant of the greenhouse, it shot up into a -tough, and belligerent swashbuckler a fathom tall, that marched in -serried ranks over the landscape, crushing beneath it and choking to -death all the sweet native grasses, shrubs and flowers. In the lower -forests, it became jungle, in the open, it became jungle only more so. -It was practically impenetrable to man. The cattlemen wailed and vainly -fought with it. It grew faster and spread faster than they could grub -it out.” - -Then ensued a battle royal between man and plant. The man called to -his aid hosts of insect mercenaries. “Some of these predacious enemies -of the Lantana ate and sucked and sapped. Others made incubators out -of the stems, tunnelled and undermined the flower-clusters, hatched -maggots in the hearts of the seeds, or covered the leaves with -suffocating fungoid growths. Thus simultaneously attacked in front and -rear and flank, above and below, inside and out, the all-conquering -swashbuckler recoiled. Today, the battle is almost over, and what -remains of the Lantana is putting up a sickly and losing fight. -Unfortunately, one of the mercenaries has mutinied. This is the -accidently introduced Mani Blight, which is now waging unholy war upon -garden flowers and ornamental plants, and against which some other army -of mercenaries must be turned.” - -Such unfortunate occurrences are sure to become more and more -infrequent as plant emigration and immigration finds itself under -increasingly drastic governmental regulation. - -The Foreign Seed and Plant Introduction Service of the United States -Department of Agriculture makes a scientific examination of all plants -brought into the United States for propagation purposes. It rids them -of objectionable Bacteria and insect pests and refuses them admittance -entirely if its experts decide that the newcomers will be harmful or -injurious in any way. - -The agents of the Service are constantly scouring the far corners of -the earth for new and rare plants. In the twenty-four years of its -existence it has introduced from abroad some fifty thousand specimens -of seeds and plant cuttings. Some of the successful immigrants have -been Feterita (from Egypt), Sudan Grass, Bamboo and Alfalfa. New -Zealand has yielded new types of Potatoes. Dwarf Almonds and strange -Cherries and Apricots have come from Turkestan. All these have proven -of commercial importance, as has Durum Russian Wheat, credited with -opening up new areas in the Northwest, and the Navel Orange from Brazil -which has created for itself a California industry covering thirty -thousand acres and valued at fifteen million dollars per annum. - -Painstaking and scientific methods are best when man attempts to aid -Nature in her evolutionary processes, especially when they are in -connection with the migration and distribution of plants. - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -COMRADES OF THE PLANT WORLD - - “... _which links by a fraternal tie - The meanest of His creatures with the high._” - - --_Lamartine_ - - -The first and greatest problem for every terrestrial creature is to -live. The chief means of doing so is to eat. Therefore, the relation of -being to being and species to species is dominated by the necessity for -food. Among man this fact is somewhat masked and obscured, but in the -rest of the world it is entirely plain and obvious. Again and again on -every hand, we see that plant, animal, and man all maintain their life -impulses by consuming the tissue of their fellows. - -In view of this fundamental fact, we can afford to look with some -degree of charity upon that class of plants which are termed parasites. -These interesting creatures are merely carrying out in a very direct -and apparent way a principle which permeates all domains of life. A -Tiger kills its prey; an Ox devours unoffending Grass; the parasitic -Dodder robs some healthy neighbour of part of its juices. - -The word “parasite” originally referred to a member of a college of -priests who had their meals in common. Later, it came to mean living -at another’s expense, as large numbers of people did in classical -times. When one realizes that there are twenty-five hundred species -of parasitical seed plants, he hesitates to brand them all as thieves -and degenerates. Taking into consideration plants which depend upon -the soil fungi for part of their sustenance, we should have to call -half the seed plants in the world “parasites.” On a basis of strict -accountability, it would also be necessary to classify all fruits as -“parasites” as they draw nourishment from the parent boughs and give no -return. - -The fact is there are very few plants which are not more or less -dependent upon some living fellow creature for their food supply. -Sometimes the relation is strictly reciprocal; sometimes the advantage -appears to greatly favour one or the other of the participants. In -other cases the occurrence arises accidently through chance proximity, -without a conscious pact or deliberate contract. - -Edward Step in his illuminating book _Messmates_ sums up the matter -admirably: “Two friends in good health, each able to earn his own -living, agree for the sake of companionship to live together, but each -defraying the cost of his own necessities and luxuries. This is a case -of mutualism. Two other friends also agree to share quarters and have -a common table; but one may be infirm and wealthy whilst the other is -strong and comparatively poor. The infirm one offers to pay two-thirds -of their common expenses if the other will contribute one third, -plus his protection, cheerful companionship or other valuable help. -This is a commensalism. The pair are messmates, each contributing to -hotch-potch according to his ability or endowment, each affording what -the other lacks, and both, therefore, benefitting from the partnership.” - -It must be admitted that there are cases of plant companionship in -which, to all human perception, the material benefits seem directly -one-sided, but who can conclusively deny that the nourishment-giving -partner may not receive some psychic or spiritual benefit from the -union? The Orchids and many other tree-parasites bear flowers of -exquisite beauty. Can we be quite sure that the trees do not like to -adorn themselves with gorgeous ornaments of this kind? Such a desire -would be quite natural. - -Plants which are low and weak in the scale of evolution are very -prone to enter into symbiotic relations. The Lichens are compound -organisms in which green Algal cells live between fungous threads. -The Fungus sucks up the water and mineral salts from the soil and the -Alga combines them with carbon dioxide from the air to form palatable -food for both. Such plant-partners have been observed to live together -amiably for twenty-five years or more. - -The Fungi and all plants which are “pale, fleshy, as if the decaying -dead with a spirit of life had been animated” have no chlorophyll, the -mysterious green substance which is necessary for the production of -starch. They must either make alliances with plants which possess this -vital elixir or live on decaying matter which contains elaborated -food material. Many choose the latter course, but a goodly number, -especially those of primitive structure, have entered into profitable -partnerships. - -The minute one-celled plants called Zoochlorella or Zooxanthella -have chosen the fresh water sponge _Ephydatia Fluviatilis_ for their -messmates. Sometimes they live with the Hydra called _Viridis_ and -impart to it a bright green colour. - -There are whole regiments of microscopic parasites which thrive on -living plant tissue and cause spots and rust to appear on Apples, -Peaches, Pears and other fruits and number among their cohorts -Rose-blight, Wheat-rust, and various Mildews. The larger messmate does -not receive very much benefit from the relation, in this instance, -except when the minute guests serve to cover a cut or an abrasion with -a protective mantle, just as Mildew shields cheese or jelly from decay. - -Cases where Fungi render very valuable services to larger plants are -exemplified by the Monotropa or Indian Pipe. This pallid scavenger -grows on the decaying vegetable matter of the woods. It toils not, -neither does it make plant starch, but it is able to produce pretty, -ghostly flowers and white scale-like leaves. On its roots thrive -species of Fungi which perform the part of root hairs and in return -receive nourishment from their host. Certain authorities claim that the -Fungi get the better of the bargain, as the Monotropa has been known to -maintain its health without them in laboratories. But the fact is the -relation _does_ exist with undisputed benefit to both parties. - -Beech Drops germinate in contact with roots of the Beech tree, attach -themselves there and raise yellow, seared stems covered with scales -instead of leaves but bearing perfect flowers. The Broom-Rapes get -their nourishment from the roots of Tobacco and Hemp in the same way. - -Prominent among the larger parasitic plants is the Dodder or Devil’s -Thread. This vine derives all its sustenance from other plants and, -as far as can be determined, gives no material return. From this -standpoint, the Dodder is a robber pure and simple, a degenerate -outcast from the community of decent plants. From the viewpoint of -this chapter, it is possible to believe that the host of the Dodder -derives some spiritual or hidden material benefit from the union which -makes it distinctly worth while. If such were not the case, it would -seem that, through ages of evolutionary development, such plants as -Flax would have devised means to escape the Dodder’s clutches. - -The Dodder inhabits low ground and pokes an inquiring head above the -surface each spring much like any self-sustaining plant. However, it is -not long before it attaches itself to some lusty neighbour by root-like -suckers, which pierce the stem and extract the nourishing juices. If -the supply seems adequate, the Dodder winds its yellow, yarn-like -tendrils about the host and allows the roots which connect it to the -earth to wither. Its absorbing tubercles look like caterpillar feet; -their cells form a perfect graft with the host and gradually disperse -through its body. If other plants are near enough, the Devil’s Thread -will reach out and tap their food supplies also. A single Dodder -has been known to draw nourishment from five or six other plants of -different families at the same time, thus indicating that it must have -digestive machinery enough to appropriate these varying saps to its own -uses. The Dodder has no chlorophyll and therefore no leaves but bears -pretty little bell-like flowers which later produce seed. - -In the tropical jungles are many parasites of brilliant aspect, which, -having no leaves or root hairs, germinate directly on supporting plants -and apply suckers to the tissues of their hosts. When seen from the -ground, their short stems make them seem all flower, and often very -handsome ones. The _Rafflesia Arnoldi_ of Sumatra is a notable example. - -Man cannot help condemning such plant practices. Yet all Nature is a -struggle for existence. Does it not require some courage and hardihood -to come out and do in a bold and open way what the rest of the universe -is doing by indirect or underhand methods? - -The beautiful Orchids belong to a botanic group of Epiphytes which -may be classified as guests or lodgers. Being green, they are able to -gather their own living from dust, rain and carbon dioxide in the air. -All they ask from their tree-hosts is a branch on which to perch. -There are probably few trees which are not delighted to have such -delicate, fairy-like creatures add to their own beauty and charm. They -wear them much as a woman wears a rose in her hair. - -In America there are well-mannered parasites such as the decorative -Spanish Moss so common throughout the South. This plant is normal in -all respects; except that, perched on a kindly tree, it draws all its -nourishment from the air instead of through soil-piercing roots. - -The Mistletoe is a perfect example of a mutualist. Early in its aerial -life, it sends a root through the bark of its tree companion and during -the spring and summer, absorbs much food. When winter days come, and -the tree has lost its leaves, the grateful messmate reverses the -process and sends into the heart of its friend the larger part of the -nourishment which it has been able to store up during the prosperous -weeks of summer. The seeds of the Mistletoe are interesting because -they are covered with a sticky fluid which enables them to travel from -tree to tree on the feet of birds. - -That some plants are parasites from necessity or laziness rather than -choice is indicated by a Brazilian variety of the Cuckoo-Pint which -sits far up on some tree branch and, like an immense spider, sends down -to the earth long delicate tubes through which it sometimes sucks food -and water. - -One of the most interesting facts in plantdom is the alliance -maintained by Clovers, Beans, Vetches and other leguminous plants, with -Bacteria belonging to the class _Pseudomonas_. No soil can be fertile -unless it contains organic compounds of nitrogen. The earth Bacteria -have discovered methods of producing these important substances, -possibly extracting nitrogen distributed through the ground. These -minute parasites attach themselves to the roots of the larger plants, -which promptly enclose them in cysts or nodules where they can lead a -sheltered life and manufacture assimilable food compounds for their -hosts. When they die, the owners of the roots feed upon their bodies. - -What is the art of grafting but a form of artificial parasitism? Very -often a branch or cutting is made to form a bodily union with some -plant of an entirely dissimilar species. In some cases, the intruder -sends roots into the tissue of its host like a true dependent. Grafts -of Prickly Pears, Mexican Grapevines and Agaves put forth food-suckers -in the soft flesh of the Giant Cactus or the Barrel Cactus much as they -would do if planted in the earth. There is here no true diffusive union -of partners but mere absorption on the part of the invader. - -Even grafting of allied species of Grapes sometimes results in the -young plants sending roots through the tissues of the scion, eventually -reaching the earth by way of the body of the host. In such cases, the -parasite also draws nutriment from its messmate by means of a superior -osmotic pressure. - -Almost everything lies in the point of view. No man, no animal, no -plant is so debased and degraded that it does not radiate some little -measure of helpfulness. If “all things work together for good,” even -that member of a plant union which seems to act upon that inverted -principle of “all coming in and nothing going out” has its legitimate -place in the world. As for those numerous examples of share-alike -partnerships, they illustrate the principle of the divine law of love -which lies back of and above the very real hardships and cruelties of -this work-a-day world. - -[Illustration: FRIENDLY ALLIES BY THE WATER’S EDGE] - - - - -CHAPTER V - -ALLIES OF THE PLANT WORLD - - “_I wish I were a willow tree-- - Young wind in the green hair of me - And old brown water round my feet, - And a familiar bird to greet._” - - --_Elizabeth Fahnestock._ - - -Every division of terrestrial life constitutes a struggle. The plants -grow and carry on their business and social activities so unobtrusively -that we seldom think of them as appealing to arms--yet their whole -existence is a battle royal. They must fight with aspiring neighbours -for every inch of their upward growth, and at the same time wage -incessant warfare against a hundred insects and animal foes. - -Under such strenuous conditions, it is only to be expected that the -plants should seek profitable alliances with birds, insects and animals -having interests similiar to their own. Such pacts are described by -botanists as examples of symbiosis; they most frequently occur between -plants and insects, but the plants also have their working agreements -with members of the other two great kingdoms of life. In fact, all -Nature is a vast system of checks and balances, with every creature -preying more or less upon every other creature, except when they can -gain more by joining their efforts. Certain Humming-Birds lie in wait -near plants which by their nectar-sweets attract swarms of insects, and -hard by, Snakes lie in wait for the Birds. The Birds rid the plants -of destroying pests; the part of the Snakes in a beneficent scheme of -existence is not so apparent, but merely because we cannot see good in -a thing is no argument that it does not exist. - -Many of the most important alliances of plants are made in response -to the law that “Nature abhors perpetual self-fertilization”. This -principle is one of the greatest in plantdom; there is a constant -necessity for the intercrossing of independent life-streams. The plants -go to great lengths to see that the multiplication and evolution of the -species is properly carried on. - -We always associate Bees and flowers, yet it is probable, that, as a -whole, the plants, especially in the tropics, depend more upon Ants -than upon any other insects. Many vegetable folk deliberately employ -them to keep their leaves and stalks free of obnoxious visitors. The -Cow-Horn Orchid, like most plants which perch on trunks and branches, -produces pseudo-bulbs into which its vitality can recede in dry -seasons. There is always a small opening at the bottom of each of these -little tubes, through which Ants enter. They honeycomb the interior -with cells and galleries where they can be perfectly dry in the wettest -weather. On the approach of Caterpillars, Cockroaches and other Orchid -enemies, the residents issue in great swarms to protect their combined -host and home. - -The species _Coryanthes_, instead of pseudo-bulbs, grows great masses -of fibrous aerial roots among which the Ants dwell. They are ever ready -to repel invasions of Cockroaches and other crawlers who seek to eat -the tender growing root-tips. - -An Epiphyte which is particularly solicitous for the welfare of its -insect allies is the Ant-nest Plant, _Rubiaceae Myrme_. This ingenious -creature not only builds nests but builds them made-to-order. Certain -enlargements on its stem are hollowed out into chambers with connecting -galleries quite ready for their intended tenants. All the Ants have to -do is to move in. The kind that usually enter the plant’s service are -fierce warriors, _Iridiomyrmex Myrmecodiae_, with very powerful stings. -They form a formidable bodyguard. - -Sometimes the Ant warriors of such compacts are quite satisfied to -accept the free rental of their snug quarters as sufficient pay and -seek their food elsewhere. More frequently, the alliance includes -“board and lodging” with the plant issuing wages in the form of nectar, -sweet pulp and other food. - -The Cherry and Vetch are among plants which secrete a candy-like -substance on their stalks which serves as an allurement for Ants to -climb and establish their homes there. In many cases, these excretions -are also barriers which prevent the Ants from hunting among the -plant’s blossoms for honey, as they would thus destroy the precious -grains of pollen. - -The South American Imba-uba Tree, Cecropia, has a hollow trunk in which -Bees and Ants dwell together amicably. The Polygonums Tree of the same -continent has so many Ant allies that it is often entirely hollowed -out by them. The process often operates so far that men break off the -smaller twigs and use them as ready-made pipe stems. The Melastroma -Plant of South America provides pouches on each leaf-stalk for the -benefit of its black guardian Ants. The Tococas and Mermidones also -have Ant-sacs. - -In China it is a common practice of the Orange-growers to encourage -the visitation of non-vegetarian Ants by placing selected species on -trees and connecting the trees by bamboo poles over which the faithful -insects can rush their forces to particularly threatened points. - -Everyone knows of the large part the industrious Bee plays in the -economy of the plant world. Few plants, there are, which are not aided -in their love-making by this tiny brown buzzer; some flowers depend -upon him entirely in their efforts to propagate the species. - -The Bees and their relatives are particularly welcome to the flowers -because they do the work of fertilization so well. Wingless insects -are undesirable because they offer little guarantee that they will -successfully carry pollen to some other flower of the same species. -Even if it is not brushed off in the course of their laborious travels, -they are not at all particular what kind of flowers they visit and so -offer small hope of carrying pollen to its correct destination. Flying -insects of the Bee family seem to have the work of cross-fertilization -directly assigned to them. On each of their separate, pollen-gathering -journeys, they are partial to one particular kind of flower. As they -flit from blossom to blossom of the same species, going in and out of -flower and flower, rubbing against a group of stamens here and brushing -against a pistil there, they fertilize plant after plant in grateful -acknowledgment of the store of sweets they are collecting. - -Many and ingenious are the methods which flowers adopt to make sure -that only invited and useful guests come to their nectar-feasts. The -very Ants which guard the lower portions of a plant so well, might -become mere greedy plunderers, if allowed to crawl within the flowers. -It is not often that they do. Sometimes, the stalks and even the petals -of flowers like the Rock-Lichens and the Butter-Wort are coated with -some plant chemical exceedingly disagreeable for an insect to crawl -over. Various alkaloids, resins and oils in the cell juices also make -the flower and its leaves obnoxious to grazing animals. Many plants, -like the Mullein and Stinging-Nettle, use bristles and prickles to -repel Slugs and Caterpillars. - -A common protective device is for a flower to place its nectar at the -bottom of a long, narrow tube only accessible to a flying insect having -a proboscis. In the _Antirrhinum_ the entrance to the flower is closed -to small crawlers by a very heavy corolla. Bees, because of their size -and strength, can force their way through. It is said that as soon as -the stigma of this flower has been fertilized, the corolla relaxes and -Ants and their kind are free to enter and partake of such dainties as -are left. - -Nettles, Passion-flowers, and Lilies frequently line their interiors -with stiff, in-pointing hairs which oppose a most effective palisade -against anything that crawls, whereas a flyer provided with a proboscis -can stand on the edge and, inserting his straw, drink up the best soda -water in plantdom. This existence of proboscides in insects which help -to cross-fertilize flowers is the very finest example we have of true -mutualism. Here is a case where members of two supposedly different -worlds of life have developed highly specialized organs in order that -they might help each other. - -It is said that Charles Darwin, after noting the extraordinary length -of the spur of the Orchid _Angraecum Sesquipedale_ of Madagascar -predicted that some day there would be found in that country a moth -with a proboscis ten to eleven inches long. Not many years after, Dr. -Fritz Müller verified the sagacity of the famous scientist by finding -an insect exactly answering this description. - -The Birth-Wort (_Aristolochia Clematitis_) takes no chances with -its insect visitors. In entering it, a Bee brushes easily by the -down-pointing hairs only to find that, when he attempts to go out -again, the bristles present stiff, unyielding obstacles against his -egress. In his excitement at this discovery, he buzzes around quite -angrily and, without noticing it, thoroughly showers the stigma with -pollen and incidentally covers his own body with a good supply to be -carried on to the next stop. When this process is quite complete, the -flower graciously relents, relaxes its hairs and allows the exasperated -insect to escape. - -The _Pedicularis_ family uses similiar coercive methods, and by sharp -teeth, forces insect-visitors to take a course through the flowers -which brings them in contact with both stamens and pistils. - -The purple Loosestrife, pretty dweller by banks and meadows, sets a -rich table and so always has plenty of insect visitors. It produces six -different kinds of yellow and green pollen, and is therefore sure to -suit every taste. Incidentally it has two different sets of stamens and -stigmas of three different lengths. - -Night-blooming flowers only entertain after the sun goes down. All day -long they look withered and dead, but with the coming of the stars, -they open up to show conspicuous white or light-tinted interiors. A -flower like the Silene also exhales a rich, sensuous odor, which, with -its light colour, serves to attract such insects as are abroad at night. - -Sycamore and Lime trees have humble allies in the tiny mites which live -in the retreats built of hairs to be found at the places where the -veins of the leaves fork. During the day they hide away from sight, but -at night they come out and scour the leaves clean of noxious bacteria -and fungus spores. - -Pollen of different plants, when examined under the microscope, reveals -wonderful facts about the reciprocal relations which exist between -plants and insects. Wind-fertilized plants are nearly always without -any special beauty of form, colour or scent, while plants which are -fertilized by insects are most always conspicuous, brightly coloured -and highly scented. In the same way, pollen of the Hazel, Birch, -and Balsam Poplar, which is carried by the wind, is small, light, -practically spherical and devoid of protuberances. Pollen of the -Primrose, Cowslip and Polyanthus, often carried by insects, is deeply -furrowed, covered with spines and knobs, strung together by sticky -threads and, in other ways, provided with apparatus which enables it to -adhere to any object which it touches. - -The pollen of the Hollyhock and the Dandelion consists of large, -beautiful, spherical grains covered with spikes. The Rhododendrons, -Azalias, and Fuchsias produce great masses of grains bound together by -viscid threads. Many of these bits of life-principle are geometric -masterpieces. A pollen grain of the _Cobaea Scandens_ is one of the -most fascinating objects of the microscopic world. It is perfectly -spherical and cut into small hexagonal facets like the eyes of a fly. -Grains of pollen of all kinds vary between one two-thousandth and one -two-hundredth of an inch in diameter. - -Alliances between plants and birds are more important than we imagine. -The tropical Humming-birds and the eastern Sun-birds are in habits -exactly like the pollen-carrying insects. To watch one of these -brilliantly coloured creatures hovering over a flower or flying -directly into a blossom after nectar, is to almost always mistake it -for a Butterfly. - -Many birds are invaluable allies of the plant world. They devour -thousands of leaf-eating insects per day and so keep down the army of -enemies which would otherwise destroy whole forests. Birds like the -Woodpeckers rid tree bark of wood-boring crawlers. - -In the human world every partner does not always live up to his -agreements. And there are evidences that both plants and their allies -sometimes engage in questionable practices, bordering on deception and -chicanery. - -The insects are often enough the offenders, and their crime is most -frequently one of robbery. If they can get the sweets they are -after without carrying out their share of the bargain, they will do -so. Bumble Bees have been observed to cut through the flower-walls -of a Nasturtium and so extract its nectar without coming near the -pollen-producing stamens. Sweet Peas frequently ignore the insects and -fertilize themselves. The Hawkweed (_Hieracium_) has so little faith -in insect allies that it produces seeds parthenogenetically, that is, -without the union of sex elements. - -Alliances which start out advantageously for both parties sometimes -degenerate into mere sinecures for one or the other. The naturalists -Ihering, Ule and Fiebrig, working in South America, a few years ago -concluded that the association of the plant Cecropia and the Aztecan -Ants, long regarded as a classic example of mutualism, is by far of -greater benefit to the Ants. The openings which the Ants make into -the hollow interiors of this plant also allow the entrance of certain -destructive insects, and the Ants themselves attract Woodpeckers -which damage the plants. It is also alleged that these same Ants, -and the ones which inhabit the _Humboldtia Laurifolia_, are often so -busy feasting on nectar that they do not stop to repel invasions of -foliage-destroying insects. - -While man is the greatest enemy of the plant world, he is also at times -its greatest friend. When it is to his advantage or when he is prompted -by a sincere love of Nature, he becomes a strong and helpful ally. He -aids his fellow creatures of the vegetable world when they are sick or -injured and, by improving their environment and protecting them from -attack and danger, enables them to develop to best advantage. A wizard -like Luther Burbank helps them in their efforts at race improvement and -development. - -In Egypt and Arabia, man has acted as carrier of pollen for centuries, -and has thus insured an abundant Date crop. The same thing is often -done in other parts of the world with Apples, Pistachios, Melons, -Cucumbers and other plants having unisexual flowers. - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -MARRIAGE CUSTOMS OF PLANTS - - “_Pale primroses - That die unmarried._”--_Shakespeare_ - - -“Love consumes the plants” once wrote Linnaeus, and the observation of -every student of Nature goes to confirm his statement. The plants marry -and are given in marriage. Reproduction is undoubtedly their chief end -in life. - -The simplest and most primitive plants have no sex but produce new -individuals by splitting their single cells in two. It is in the -thread-like bodies of Pond Weeds that we find the first beginnings of -the principle of generation by union. These lowly creatures consist of -single cells strung end to end like beads in a necklace. When two of -the living chains happen to find themselves parallel to each other, -certain of the cells reach out and join those opposite them to form new -cells. Such a mixture of life forces is always beneficial to the race. - -In the higher plants the same process is carried out in a little more -elaborate way. Of the two cells which unite, one is small and active, -and is called the male or pollen cell. The other is larger, richer and -more passive, and is the ovule or female cell. - -It is one of the main objects of each plant’s life to see that its -ovules are fertilized by pollen grains from some other member of -the same species. When this is impossible, flowers are reduced to -fertilizing themselves, but if this continues very long, degeneracy is -very apt to result. It is not wise to marry one’s first cousin. - -Many plants depend upon the wind to distribute their pollen. Such -species bear slight, inconspicuous flowers which not infrequently -cluster together in long, pendent catkins. This was undoubtedly the -first and original form of plant marriage. Though often successful, it -is very wasteful and undependable. “The wind bloweth where it listeth” -and loses a million grains of pollen for every one it lodges. - -One hazy day in the long ago, some plant had a brilliant idea. “There -are a number of insects which are in the habit of paying me unwelcome -visits for the purpose of eating pollen. Why can’t I make use of these -thieves and turn their marauding habits to my own advantage?” - -No sooner said than done, though it doubtless took many centuries -to get the plan in thorough working order. It was a new departure -in the plant world and led to various revolutionary changes. In all -probability, there were no bright-hued flowers before the advent -of pollen-eating insects. In the beginning, at least, flowers were -developed as the signs by which plants advertised their wares. “We will -make ourselves luringly attractive,” reasoned the plants. “We will add -to our bright-coloured petals the sweet delights of nectar and honey. -While the insect is eating at our table, we will shower his back with -pollen and, going forth to some floral neighbour, he will unwittingly -become the marriage priest of our race.” - -This was the idea, and in many diverse and wonderful ways the plants -have carried it out. The first flowers were developed by training -certain stamens to flatten and expand themselves, daub their surfaces -with colour, and so become petals. This evolutionary fact can be -seen today in the white Water Lily, where concentric rows of stamens -gradually merge into petals. Double Roses and Poppies are examples of -the same thing. - -The formation of flowers was only the first step. It is not enough to -get the insect to come to the plant. Once he is there, means must be -found to make sure that he performs the marriage duties assigned to -him. Each flower takes care of this problem in a different way. - -At ordinary times, the Gorse is a closed flower, provided, however, -with a little step or platform on which a Bee can alight. As soon as -an industrious honey-seeker has settled down on this little floral -porch, his pressure causes the entire corolla of the flower to spring -violently open and shower him with pollen. A Gorse flower which has -thus unburdened itself at once hangs down dejectedly and is no longer -the object of insect regard. The Lupine and the English Bird’s-Foot -Trefoil entertain their tiny visitors in a similiar way. - -There are two different arrangements of sexual organs in the Primrose. -One variety is provided with long stamens and a short pistil. The -other has the reverse combination of short stamens and a long pistil. -In both cases, the nectar is in a pit at the bottom of the flower. As -long as an insect visits short-stamened flowers, he collects pollen on -the upper part of his proboscis. Happening to enter a short-pistiled -flower, this portion of his drinking tube is now opposite the -female organ and fertilizes it. In the same way, the insect’s feet -gather pollen from the long-stamened flowers and deposit it in the -long-pistiled variety. By such involved methods does this particular -flower make sure of fertilization. - -Sage flowers have only two stamens but they do the work of forty. Using -their power of movement, they bend forward and deliberately embrace a -bee as soon as he enters their chamber. They do not release him until -he is covered with their yellow pollen. - -The English Figwort has adopted repulsive methods of entertainment. -It has contrived to make itself look like and give forth the odour of -decaying meat, because it knows that it will thereby attract certain -Wasps. The South African Stapelia does the same thing with the idea of -alluring Carrion Flies. Still another imitator of similiar kind is the -pale-green Carrion Flower whose visitor is the Blow Fly. - -When in repose, the stamens of the pink-white Mountain Laurel (_Kalmia -Latifolia_) curve so that their anthers or pollen-bags fit into -corresponding pits or depressions in the petals. When a Bumble Bee -happens along and blunders among these delicate organs, the stamens -spring up and shower his back with pollen. - -Everyone is familiar with the purple barber pole of the Cuckoo Pint -which stands up straight out of a pulpit-shaped leaf. This barber pole -is the upper end of a fertilizing device of marvelous efficiency. - -Down in the shelter of the cup-shaped leaf, the pole is covered with -primitive male flowers, without petals or without sepals, in fact, -nothing more than simple stamens. Below them are rudimentary female -flowers consisting of unadorned pistils. Certain Midges and Flies are -attracted into the leaf cavity of the plant by the store of sweets at -its bottom. Traveling down the pole, these would-be feasters readily -pass the guardian hairs just above the stamens, pass the stamens -themselves and unintentionally fertilize the pistils with pollen they -have picked up on other marauding expeditions. Having partaken of -honey, the Flies seek to escape, but now find the way barred by the -down-pointing hairs which have bristled up in a militant manner. The -insects must stay until the plant decides to release them, which is -never until the stamens have ripened and showered them with a fresh -supply of pollen. - -The Orchids are among the most beautiful and extraordinary flowers -in the world. Their noteworthy development has come about through -their efforts to secure abundant and efficient insect fertilization. -So certain are their methods that they ordinarily do not require the -services of more than one stamen. - -In one variety, the English Spotted Orchid, the pollen is enclosed in -two sacks or bags provided with long stems. These sacs are lodged in -special cavities near the pistil in such a manner that the sticky ends -of the stems come in contact with the head of a nectar-sucking Bee. -They adhere firmly. When he departs he has two bulbous ornaments for a -crest. At first they stand erect, but as he flies, the air dries them -and they incline forward on curved stems. When he is ready for his -next cup of honey, they are hanging down in front of his eyes like a -new kind of pawnbroker’s sign. It is no mere happenstance that in this -new position the pollen sacs are deposited on the stigma of the second -flower’s pistil. By such ingenious marriage customs, the Orchids have -become a dominant family in plantdom. They are in the ascendency even -in the tropics, where their frail bodies have to compete with hosts of -plants which are physically much more vigorous. - -Between the Yucca and the Yucca Moth exists a wonderful life-long -partnership for the purpose of furthering the reproductive processes of -both. Surely, Nature moves in mysterious ways. - -Insects are the chief marriage priests of the plant world, but in the -tropics they are aided and abetted by Humming-Birds, Sun-Birds and -Lories, which are all provided with long, tubular tongues. - -Most insects act as if they were unaware of the important place they -occupy in plant hymeneals. So intent are they on their honey-gathering -that they become covered from head to foot with pollen without -appearing to notice it. Yet in a few instances, the Bees not only -recognize that they have been pressed into the plant’s messenger -service, but by underhand methods seek the rewards of labour without -giving adequate return. They have learned how to cut a hole in the -calyx tube of the Bean and the Scarlet Runner, and get at the precious -honey by short cut. If all Bees and other fertilizing insects should -master this trick, the flowers would have to wear defensive armour or -perish. - -Pollen to be effective must remain dry. The plants have perfected many -devices to shield it from moisture. Frequently, the flowers hang so -that their petals act as tiny umbrellas for it. Others wear rainy day -hoods, and practically all close when the night mists are abroad. - -The necessity for dry pollen obtains even among the water plants. If -they are surface-floaters like the Pond Lily or the Victoria Regia, it -is easy enough for them to thrust their blossoms up into the air, where -they may be as dry as though they were on land. The sub-aqueous plants -have a harder problem and are sometimes driven to developing their -flowers in leaf air-chambers below the surface. The Water Chestnut -(_Trapa Natans_) makes itself buoyant at its flowering period with -generated air and rises en masse to the surface. After fertilization, -it sinks again to its sub-aqueous quiet. - -Self-fertilization in its strictest sense occurs within the -individual flower. Plants only resort to it as an extreme measure -and commonly make use of many devices to prevent it. In the Iris, -the petal-like stamens are in direct contact with the pistil and yet -self-fertilization does not result, because the pollen surface is -always carefully turned away from the ovary. - -By bringing their pistils and stamens to maturity at different times, -many flowers make sure that they will not fertilize themselves. Such is -the case in the Bulbous Buttercup and the Arrowhead. - -Flowers of the same tree or bush might be called distant cousins. Their -union results in healthy offspring, though the marriage of still more -divergent individuals is preferable. Plants like the Begonia, which -bear single-sex flowers, often grow in somewhat isolated positions and -so must intermarry a great deal among themselves. Staminate flowers at -the top of a stalk can shower pollen over many female flowers growing -below them. - -The exception always proves the rule, which explains why we find a -few flowers which deliberately choose to fertilize themselves. In -the Fuchsia, the flower droops, throwing the long pistil below the -stamens, which can readily drop pollen onto it. Minute hooks hold -the petals of the Indigo and Lucerne partly closed until the flower -is completely developed. When they give way, the petals fly back, so -shaking the whole flower that the anthers shower pollen on the pistil. -The single-sex flowers of the Aloe bend near each other at mating time. - -The Violets and Polygalas are also largely self-fertilizing. They are, -therefore, borne under the leaves or close to the ground, where they -attract little attention. - -The love and marriages in plantdom may seem to be largely instinctive -and mechanical, but that is probably because we have not investigated -them sufficiently. The Persian poet Osmai believed that the plants had -affairs of the heart as real as those recorded in the human world. Here -is his account of one:-- - -“I was possessor of a garden in which was a Palm Tree, which had every -year produced abundance of fruit; but two seasons having passed away -without its affording any, I sent for a person well acquainted with the -culture of Palm Trees, to discover for me the cause of the failure. - -“‘An unhappy attachment,’ observed the man, after a moment’s -inspection, ‘is the sole cause why this Palm Tree produces no fruit.’ - -“He then climbed up the trunk, and looking around, discovered another -Palm at no great distance, which he recognized as the object of my -unhappy tree’s affection; and he advised me to procure some of the -powder from its blossoms and to scatter it over the branches. This I -did; and the consequence was my Date Palm, whom unrequited love had -kept barren, bore me an abundant harvest.” - -[Illustration: FLORAL OFFERINGS IN A MOUNTAIN CATHEDRAL] - - - - -CHAPTER VII - -ART IN THE PLANT WORLD - - “_As if the rainbows of the fresh mild spring - Had blossomed where they fell._” - - -The plants are perfect artists. From the budding of the Rose to the -sudden shooting forth of the seeds of the Wistaria, everything they do -is in perfect taste. Ugly flowers are decidedly uncommon. Those which -human judgment declares to be less lovely than their fellows have their -attractive points, if we take the trouble to look for them. If art is a -desire for beauty, a searching after perfect harmony, then the plants -and flowers are the most artistic creatures in the universe. - -Plant colours are particularly interesting. The flowers are -master-craftsmen when it comes to the adornment of dainty, delicate -petals with pigments which are the distilled essence of a thousand -rainbows. No other quality in the natural world gives man a deeper -emotional enjoyment. Floral colours speak a whole language of their -own of which we can get only faint interpretations. - -Cold biologists explain that the beautiful hues and shades of plantdom -are largely designed to attract insects and so secure a necessary -distribution of pollen. There is no doubt that this is true, but for -one to believe that this is the sole function of a flower’s beauty is -to reduce the world to a materialistic basis and banish all thoughts of -the esthetic, the spiritual and the ideal. The flowers are permitted to -adorn themselves in bright raiment at least partly in order to satisfy -the universal craving for the delicate and the artistic. - -It should not be imagined that the gayest and most brilliantly coloured -members of the plant world are always residents of the tropics. The -hot countries undoubtedly produce many specimens of startling hue and -pattern, but it is often their ostentation and exotic character, rather -than their beauty or charm, which attract attention. They are apt to be -a bit barbaric and not as numerous as they are reputed to be. For great -masses of beautiful flowers, we do not go to Mid-Africa or Cuba, but -to the mountain-bound meadows of the Alps, the plains of Australia, -or the prairies of America. What is more startlingly beautiful than -a field of Yellow Buttercups or Black-eyed Susans which can be seen -anywhere in the eastern United States? Where can our eyes feast upon a -more wonderful scene than a field of Wild Verbenas and Delphiniums as -found in Texas? In the tropics the flower masses are more scattered. -Even the far-famed Orchids are only abundant in occasional favoured -spots. - -The gardens of our large country estates offer floral displays which -cannot be rivaled anywhere. Our temperate zone Roses, Peonies, -Hollyhocks, Wistaria, Lilacs, Lilies, Tulips, Hyacinths, Gentians, -Asters, Anemonies and Poppies are the most delicate colour creations -in existence. For brilliance and alluring charm nothing surpasses the -Mountain Laurel and Rhododendrons of the East, or the Trumpet Vine -and Yellow Jessamine of the South. The gorgeous Azalias, Camellias, -Pelargoniums, Calceolarias and Cinerarias also belong to the regions -which have cold periods in their annual weather schemes. Even the -humble Gorse is clothed in gold, while the prickly and much-despised -Cactus bears little crimson-coloured bells. - -It is quite evident that man got his original idea of colour from -Nature, particularly the plant world. Why is it that we are inclined -to wear green in spring, brown in autumn, and all manner of colours in -summer? Simply because, consciously or unconsciously, we are imitating -Nature. We take pigments and dyes and get a pale similitude of an -exquisite flower. If it happens to be a Rose, we name the colour after -it. Sometimes we name tints after the sky or an animal or a bird, but -in these cases, we might just as well have gone to the flowers for our -nomenclature. - -Every tint and hue which we can ever hope to reproduce is present in -the plant world. The flowers by no means monopolize them. On close -examination, a single stalk and leaf exhibit a wonderful variety of -colour. In the Begonia and the Sea Holly, the stalks are exactly the -same colours as the flowers. The wild Cranesbill sports a crimson -stem. The stalks of Poplar leaves are a vivid yellow. To speak of -“green leaves” is to speak in the most general of terms. What is -more exquisite than the silver gray to be seen on the backs of many -tree-leaves, notably the Alders, Willows, and Poplars? Many leaves join -the Wild Lettuce in having purple backs. The reverse sides of Magnolias -and Rhododendrons are red-brown. In the autumn, nearly all leaves show -brilliant patches of colour. - -In borrowing Nature’s colours to set forth our ideas, we have become -possessors of a mighty vehicle of expression. With yellow, we can speak -of life, light, cheer and vitality. Red tells of fire, heat, blood, -excitement and passion. Blue indicates coolness, quiet and restraint. -In choosing green for its most universal colour, Nature harmonizes life -and restraint, warmth and coolness, as represented by the component -blue and yellow. In the same way, when she wants to concentrate the -maximum colour power in a single fruit or flower, she uses orange, -a combination of light and heat, vitality and excitement. Purple -represents a neutralized idea. Red vitality is tempered with blue -restraint, which results in mysticism. Nature clothes the Poppy in red -to suggest power and strength. The royal purple of the Aster and the -Violet is purposely calculated to arouse a feeling of mystery and awe. - -Our man-made cloth designs often show various plant forms intact in -the weave. The same is true of lace, while one has only to look at the -miniature flower gardens which women wear on their heads to realize the -potent influence of plants in the domains of millinery. An important -plant element seems to run through many fields of applied art. - -In some ways, the beauties of form and structure are more appealing -than chromatic charms. Lines are more refined and fundamental than -colours. A feathery mass of tree-twigs seen against a distant horizon -is exquisitely beautiful. A symmetrically shaped tree comes very -close to presenting an idea of pure form. One may argue that it is -impossible to dissociate all idea of colour from a natural object. This -is theoretically true, but practically, while we are impressed by the -colour of the Rose, it is the structural beauty of the Palm and Weeping -Willow which attracts our eye. - -Nature is the true and original sculptor. From her we learn our rules -of symmetry and design. All her plant creations are finished with a -faithfulness to artistic principles which is quite exact. Nor does -she build houses with false exteriors. Her structures show forth the -necessity of truth in real esthetic creation. Bartholdi’s exquisite -Statue of Liberty, viewed from the interior, is an ugly, hollow tube. -A stalk of corn not only has a pleasing exterior but is made up of -symmetrically formed and packed interior cells. From a giant Redwood to -a microscopic vegetable organism, every line and structural unit in the -plant world is perfect in its inception and execution. - -Each plant, viewed as a whole, has its own peculiar style of structural -beauty--the variation of line and form which stamps it with charm. -This differentiation extends to all parts of the plant and gives -character to leaves, stem, flowers and fruit. Marvellous is the art -worked out in the minute parts. The tendril of the Passion Flower, -the radicle of a Seedling Maple, the feathery hair on a stalk of -Mullein--all these are shaped according to the unknown law of beauty. -Probably every geometrical form exists in some seed pod or fruit. The -artistic little seeds of the Milkweed and the Dandelion are packed into -their containers with a skill which cannot be duplicated, once they -are dislodged. There are a million seeds in the capsules of certain -Orchids. Many seed vessels are tipped, balled, carved and frescoed. - -The same delicate touch is seen down to the last cell. Plant stems -range from the common tubular variety to four-sided, hexagonal and -octagonal forms. Trees exhibit exquisite mosaics in their rough -bark. Bell-shaped flowers and flowers which are tubes, rings, ovals, -trumpets, horns, and cones are only some of the pleasing shapes to be -found in this part of vegetable anatomy. - -It is a significant thing that there are few straight lines in -plantdom. Everything is built in fascinating and alluring curves. -There is a definite idea of symmetry to be observed everywhere. The -beautiful, five-pointed, leaves of the Sweet Gum Tree are arranged so -that each one fits into an interstice between two others and so obtains -a maximum supply of air and light. In general, leaves nearest the -ground are largest, thus insuring each its supply of sunshine. - -When we study ornamental design, ancient and modern, we see plant forms -on all hands. The Greeks and the Moors were the only nations to be -content with geometric shapes and lines--and they were only content at -times. All other peoples have given plants and flowers a large place -in their decorative conceptions. The Egyptians and the Assyrians, -who may be considered the first civilized artists, used the Palm, -Papyrus, Lotus and Lily. The Greeks and Romans were partial to the -Acanthus, Olive, Ivy, Vine, Fir and Oak. The Gothic art of Germany, -France and Spain featured the Lily, Rose, Pomegranate, Oak, Maple, -Iris, Buttercup, Passion Flower and Trefoil. The modern Chinese are -more conservative and seek inspiration only from the Aster and the -Peony. The Japanese use the Almond, Cherry, Wistaria and the graceful -Bamboo in their art work. These various plant forms are sometimes quite -conventionalized but are readily recognizable, whether they occur in -architecture, carvings, paintings, illuminations, tapestries or cloth -fabrics. - -The plant world has been man’s most constant and readily apprehended -artistic model. Yet when we see the multitude of attractive lines, -curves and shapes in Nature’s great garden, we wonder that he has so -limited his imitation. One rarely sees the Thorn-Apple, the Hawthorn, -the Daisy or the Tulip in wood or stone, yet they are all exquisitely -beautiful. - -Again, artists and artisans throughout the centuries have nearly -always confined themselves to but two phases of plant life--the leaves -and the matured fruit. Tendrils have been neglected or treated with -characterless mediocrity. Thorns, leaf stipules, buds, pods, and leaf -scars have been universally overlooked. Who has ever seen the fruit of -the Rose in ornamental art? Why is it no one has thought to use the -leaf scars of trees like the Horse Chestnut as decorative units? - -Grapes and Pomegranates are reproduced with some justice, but the -various small berries almost always appear as miscellaneous spherical -bodies, whereas they are really greatly varied. The Snowberry, Privet, -Laurel and Barberry have distinct characteristics of form and shape. - -There are chances for worlds of artistic expression in various seed -pods and fruit vessels. An open Pea Pod occurs in certain Renaissance -ornament. Why not (and this is not intended to be humorous) a String -Bean? - -Even a lowly thing like the scarred stalk of an old Cabbage has a -pattern worthy of imitation. The shields or remains of leaves of former -seasons form an artistic detail of the growing Palm Tree. The Romans -occasionally reproduced them on their columns. Leaf shields are also -met with in Greek border ornament. - -Why must our sculptors represent the various fruits as bursting with -mature mellowness? In many cases, the unripe fruit is artistically more -attractive than when in the later stages of development. - -We rarely think of disease or decay as being pleasing, yet some plants -are artistic even in their dissolution. Certain galls and cankers draw -beautiful designs on the bodies of their victims. - -Everything in plantdom has its own peculiar style of structure and -beauty. All are worthy of imitation and reproduction, provided only it -is done in the right place and the right way. It must be remembered -that, in origin, ornament was first symbolic and then decorative. Real -ornament is never unduly prominent but subordinates itself to the idea -and structure of the whole. - -Man has imitated the plants also in things of a lowlier nature. Cups, -vases, pitchers and other utensils were undoubtedly first suggested by -similar shapes in plantdom. It is not too fantastic to imagine that -the smoking pipe is modelled after the flower known as the Dutchman’s -Pipe. An electric wire running down the chain of a suspended lighting -fixture looks all the world like a climbing vine. Human jewelry has -its prototype among the flowers. Our garden beauties powdered their -faces long before their human sisters ever thought of that method of -self-adornment. It is said that Greek dancers and athletes sometimes -exercised before certain slender plants in order to pattern their -bodies after them. - -We are not all artists or interior decorators, and yet we can all -make use of the artistic possibilities present and inherent in our -plant friends. We can cultivate and further the use of plants and -flowers in and about our homes. Europe is far ahead of us in this -respect. In England, a city house may be ever so frowsy and run-down -but it will be sure to have its well-kept window boxes. The suburban -homes of labourers and other lowly folk are often veritable bowers of -loveliness. The German must have a garden in which to drink his beer. -If there is none handy, he builds one, and cool and delightful he makes -it. In many European cities, all the houses come out to the building -line and even arch the sidewalks. Not a bit of greensward is in sight. -Yet shrubs, flowers and vines spring from every sill and balcony and so -make the streets to blossom as the Rose. - -American cities are too inclined to be barren wastes of brick and -stone, with but scant provision for plant beauty. Even the rich, who -have their elaborate and beautiful country gardens, seem to forget -the plants and flowers when they come to the city. The self-tending -Ampelopsis and Wistaria vines are the only plants at all common. Our -short summer season and the fact that so many people do not occupy -their city homes in warm weather are a little discouraging, but need -not shake the enthusiasm of any one really interested in plants. For a -few dollars a season florists will assume all care of exterior plants -and vines. - -The man who has a little plot of ground before his door is indeed -fortunate. Even a well-clipped grass lawn is a refreshing asset. Sweet -Peas train well against a wall. Pansies flourish in shady spots and -Nasturtiums wax beautiful where other plants fail. - -A brown stone front, flushed to the sidewalk in the middle of a block, -need not go without floral decoration. Even a terra cotta box on -either side of the entrance is capable of holding much growing joy. -Evergreen shrubs fit well into such surroundings. A window box has -great possibilities. In early spring, Crocus, Narcissus and Hyacinth -flourish in it to advantage. Ivy-Geraniums of smooth waxy leaves and -graceful loose sprays will grow all summer. Vines of various kinds can -be trained so as to make very effective window screens. - -The subject of home plants is fascinating. It is well to note that it -is not always necessary to go in for the more elaborate varieties. It -is surprising what a delicate and pleasing decoration is made by so -humble a thing as a sprouting Carrot or a Sweet Potato Vine. - -Outdoor and landscape gardening are whole sciences unto themselves. -In general, a Renaissance house looks best surrounded by formal -and well-clipt flower beds. Houses on the Gothic order should have -undulating lawns and irregular groups of shrubs and trees about them. - -Plants and flowers are the first and original artists. Their creations -are our best and most worthy models. We can use them both as examples -to be imitated and beautiful objects with which to surround ourselves. -They are one of our greatest esthetic inspirations. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - -MUSIC IN THE PLANT WORLD - -“_Many voices there are in Nature’s choir, and none but were good to -hear Had we mastered the laws of their music well, and could read their -meaning clear; But we who can feel at Nature’s touch, cannot think as -yet with her thought; And I only know that the sough of the pines with -a spell of its own is fraught._” - - -Music is a language--a species of soft, dreamy speech which makes up -for its lack of definiteness and precision by a beauty and harmony -which can best be described as divine. Indeed, the ancient Greeks -made music an all-inclusive term for the higher conceptions of life. -Dancing, poetry, and even science were supposed to be under its sway, -while the revolution of the heavenly bodies created that “music of the -spheres” which entertained the gods. - -It would be better for mankind if this sentiment were more popular -today. It is a narrow notion which confines the idea of musical -harmony to the sounds produced by certain man-made instruments. -Art which is restricted to workings in oil may be very pleasing but -it is also very much limited. Music which is only interpreted on a -violin or a piano falls far short of its grandest possibilities. To -certain minds, the sighing of the wind through a Pine forest is more -exquisitely expressive than a hundred breath-blown symphonies. When men -cannot agree as to what is music among the sounds produced by their -self-created instruments, dare they lightly ignore the many pleasing -sounds which accompany the operations of Nature? - -To an American ear, Chinese singing sounds like squealing and a Fiji -concert like a vociferous boiler factory. Yet a Chinaman or a Fiji -Islander will leave our grandest operatic efforts in disgust, though -he may be pleased with the preceding orchestral tunings. Where are we -to set the standard? Is it not safest to fall back on Nature for our -truest conceptions? - -The real sublimity of Nature lies in her vocalism. A soundless world -would be greatly lacking in charm. The endearing noises of the woods -and the fields often become so familiar that we fail to notice -their individual merits. Yet they are there. Their sudden cessation -would leave a terrible and unbearable gap. The woods are filled with -gaily costumed feathered minstrels. The meadows are great emerald -stages of song and fancy. The very grass roots are filled with little -insect-fiddlers who chirp cheerfulness. Wind, water and rain all -furnish a grand and beautiful accompaniment. - -Nature sings in the inharmonic scale, that is, a scale which takes in -all intervals. Between the piano notes “C” and “D” lies a great space. -They only represent halting points in the ascent of sound. Just as in -the spectrum there are a hundred variations of shade between blue and -green, so the cultivated human voice can hint at a hundred intervals -between “C” and “D”. Nature uses all the tiny shades of sound there -are, and certain humans have followed suit. To the Arabians, water -“lisps in a murmuring scale.” - -Occasionally, Nature uses the diatonic scale familiar to our western -civilization. When the wind unites its vibrations into the long shrill -note we call the whistle, it is playing according to our musical rules. -Water, when falling perpendicularly from a great height also gives -forth a long, steady note. Even the rhythmical quality so essential to -good music is not lacking in such phenomena as rain pattering on dry -leaves. This sound has proved unusually appealing to many people. The -Mexicans sometimes attempt to imitate it by means of clay rattles. - -Not only does the countryside continually sing a great symphony, -but each region has its own acoustic properties. While large cities -maintain a discordant and incessant roar, the country is filled with -soft and pleasing voices. Birds, animals, water and wind give forth -quaint musings of the most soothing nature. Once in a while the woods -go on a musical jag and every instrument becomes discordant. Under -the influence of the bright moonlight, the inhabitants of the South -American jungles sometimes seem to go mad. The hoarse roars of the -Tiger mingle with the piercing shrieks of Parrots and the shrill -wailings of Monkeys, while the croaking of Bull Frogs and the dismal -hoot of Owls is deafening. Jaguars scream as they chase Monkeys through -the tree-tops. - -The various members of the plant kingdom are the principal instruments -upon which the wind plays. Without the obstruction offered by plants, -trees, rocks, and houses, we should not hear the wind at all. The -trees, because of their size and exposed positions, are most noted as -plant-musicians, but the grasses and herbs are also very susceptible to -the caressings of the wind. - -Who has not heard and gloried in the music of the Pines? The sharp -needles of these big conifers seem unusually fitted for esthetic -expression. They are the Aeolian harps of the woods. During a storm, -they sing in a mighty chorus of acclaim. At such a time, the breaking -of many small branches sounds like the snapping of overstrained violin -strings. - -Almost any tree located on a cliff or on the edge of a mountain, -becomes a musician of the first order. It is apt to take on the -sorrowful tendencies of solitude. The weepings, wailings, murmurings, -groanings, sighs and whispers of the universe vibrate through its -branches. It would seem as if such a tree were trying to express many -mysterious wonders of which man has little knowledge. - -The trees are not altogether dependent upon their leaves for their -music. The barren branches of fall and winter sing in a most attractive -way. Their dry and discarded leaves litter the ground and carry on -crackly songs of their own, or sing as they play tag in whirls of wind. -The Elm is a pleasing autumn singer and the Willows, when covered with -ice, rattle their twigs like a minstrel’s bones. As the winter wind -hums around the Cottonwood Trees, it rocks the seed balls in their -natural cradles with a sighing, crooning sound. This is the way the -Tree sings to her babies! When the wind soughs through a hollow tree, -it produces a ghostly sound suggestive of a mourning or dying person. -A current of air rubbing two boughs together causes a scrunching sound -which sends the shivers up one’s back. - -It is reasonable to believe that every tree and plant has its own -individual voice as set in motion by the wind. A Nature-lover does not -have much difficulty in distinguishing a great many. The desert Sage -whistles in the wind; the Cedar laughs in the storm; the air rustles -through a Wheat field; an agitated Sugar Cane or Corn field gives forth -a sound like tinkling glass. The noise produced by a high wind in the -Southern Smilax has been likened to a harp struck at random. - -The bursting pods of the Witch Hazel pop gently and the seeds fall -among the dead leaves like so many buck shot; the Oxalis sends forth -its seed-babies with the crack of a pistol shot. Members of the Bean -family moan in the breeze like plaintive violins. The Squirting -Cucumber gurgles not unlike certain frogs. The Sunflower is a -professional drummer who rattles his seeds about in his pods. The -Rattlesnake Iris holds its seed-capsule in such a way that it gives an -excellent imitation of the warning noise of the reptile for which it -is named. Catalpa pods snap like horse-whips, but Cat-Tails sigh like -small reed instruments. - -Early man gained more inspiration and pleasure from the music of the -plants than his wiser but more worldly successors. It is said that the -idea for the first flute was obtained by listening to the wind sigh -through the Reeds on the shore of a lake. The first stringed instrument -was probably a fibre accidentally stretched across a hollow shell. The -classic Aeolian harp consisted of a wooden frame containing a thin -sounding-board over which were stretched a number of strips of cat-gut. -If placed before a half-open window so that an air current strikes it -sideways, it gives forth a great volume of harmonious notes in several -octaves. This is a clear case of catching the music of the wind. In a -cruder, less harmonious way, the Japanese glass tinklers of our day do -the same thing. The humming of telegraph wires and the strange chirping -of a wireless instrument are also a kind of singing. - -All the plants are not expert musicians, which explains why they often -seek to make up for their own deficiencies by hiring numerous birds and -insects to make melody for them. These musicians are employed in the -truest sense of the word and receive their pay in food, shelter and -protection. In the air and on the ground, by day and by night, they -sing and fiddle for their hosts. The broad leaves of the Water Lily -(_Victoria Regia_) are veritable music schools of Frog practice. Every -voice from croaking bass to youthful tenor is heard! Every tree has its -Frogs and Birds--every bush and shrub innumerable insect warblers. - -The birds are the plants’ vocalists. Their songs and delightful -twitterings are among the most familiar things in Nature. The music of -the large body of insect-instrumentalists is carried on in such obscure -places, and often so far down among the very roots of the plants, that -a considerable investigation of their methods may not be amiss. They -are especially active after sundown. - -The common Grasshoppers form a great corps of violinists. A large vein -on the inside of their thighs makes an ideal bow. It is roughened not -with resin but by a hundred minute spines. When this vein is rubbed -to and fro on the serrated veins of the insect’s wing-cover, a shrill -tone is produced. Sitting on its haunches, the Grasshopper saws away -with both hind legs at a great rate. The interesting discovery has been -made that the velocity of the strokes increases with the temperature. -Grasshoppers in large swarms emit a low roar. - -The Locust is a near relative of the Grasshopper. His music is produced -by scraping one wing across the other. The Cricket uses the same -method. When he is a house species, he fiddles in a higher tone. The -gold-green Muskback Beetle is an exquisite violinist. His instrumental -methods are most peculiar. His sharp breast acts as a bow which he -draws across a small group of veins on his wing covers. The resulting -music is so faint as to be almost inaudible. - -To Bees, Wasps, Hornets, Flies and Mosquitoes we may ascribe reed -instruments. They depend upon the rapid vibration of their tiny wings -to get their effects. The respiration openings distributed over the -body of a Bee, by giving resonance to the tone, aid in the process and -turn the whole insect’s body into a small clarionet. The drowsy buzz -of the honey-gatherer is only attained by swinging its wings at the -rate of four hundred vibrations a minute. People who have good ears for -music have observed that the ordinary Bee drones his song out on G -sharp. The House-Fly is credited with singing at F with a preliminary -grace note on E. Everyone is familiar with the high thin plaint of the -Mosquito. - -There are many drummers in the insect orchestra. The Cicada operates -a small kettle drum. On the front of its body, a tough membrane is -stretched over a small cavity. When set in motion by a special muscle, -it gives out a surprisingly agreeable sound. The Greeks enjoyed this -music so well that they often caged the Cicada much as they would a -bird. In the hatching time of the seventeen-year variety, the energetic -drumming of thousands of the insects rises into a scream which is far -from melodious. Under such conditions, the noise can be heard for half -a mile. Travelers tell of a giant South American species which produces -a drumming which is as loud as a locomotive whistle. An uncanny drummer -is the “Death Watch Beetle.” It uses its head for drumsticks and when -in the wood of furniture often plays a tattoo with considerable skill. -Superstitious people, for no apparent good reason, sometimes insist -this is a warning of impending death. Even the pretty little Butterfly -on occasion is a drummer. With hooks on its wings, it makes a sharp -crackle, not unlike one of the weird noises sometimes used by human -“traps.” Beetles play the bones. - -The Bamboo Tree is sometimes the possessor of a whole corps of -intelligent and efficient drummers. They attach themselves to the -under side of the leaves, from which vantage-point they strike them -with their heads whenever their services are required. An Ant of the -_Sumatran_ species keeps wonderful time. Though spread out over a -number of square yards of leaf space, a group of these tiny creatures -will start and stop tapping at the same instant. - -Perhaps in some far-distant age, mankind will begin remotely to -understand the significance of the music of the plant world and its -allies. We have no right to say that the plants are not true musicians. -While we may only understand their system of harmony in part, we can -realize it contains hidden beauties just as the presence of microscopic -organisms in the world is indicated by their effects rather than by -actual perception. - - - - -CHAPTER IX - -SCIENCE IN THE PLANT WORLD - - “_Weak with nice sense, the chaste Mimosa stands, - From each rude touch withdraws her timid hands._” - - -Plants are profound scientists. Their knowledge may not be as broad and -far-reaching as that of man, but they are more successful workers than -he. With all his wonderful discoveries in physics and chemistry, man as -a class has not yet learned to conduct his own body so as to make it -yield the highest efficiency. In fact, members of the human race are -today wearing out their frames at a faster rate than ever before. Adept -at running huge mechanisms of steel, they are neglectful of those most -delicate and wonderful machines which are bound up with their own life -processes. - -Plants are not so prodigal. Whenever they are given a chance, they -develop and expand their powers in the most marvelous way. They bring -out the latent strength in their beings and so conduct themselves as to -conserve their energies. Whether by instinct, reason or blind force -they always know just what to do and how to make the most of their -heredity and environment. Their efficiency rating is one hundred per -cent. - -As the whole life of all plants is a scientific progression, we can -only consider in the brief limits of this chapter some of the more -startling instances of the marvelous sense they exhibit in dealing with -Nature’s forces. - -Probably one of the reasons we do not always think of plants in the -human, sympathetic way we should, is that we are inclined to regard -them as quiet, static objects, playthings of every wind that blows -upon them. Such is far from the case. Life is motion and the plants -are very much alive and very much in motion. From the tiniest cell to -the largest tree they exhibit constant, pulsating movements. Many of -the movements are described through so small a space as ordinarily to -escape our notice, but a little observation makes them quite apparent. -They all have a well-directed, scientific purpose. - -What is plant growth itself but motion upward and outward? If a -telescope or an instrument such as Sir Jaghadish Bose’s crescograph -be trained on a healthy plant, it is possible to see the growth -actually take place before the eye somewhat as it is managed in motion -pictures. Travelers aver that if a Banana Plant be cut off close to the -ground and the surrounding soil well supplied with water, the sturdy -creature will make such strenuous efforts to destroy the effects of its -mutilation that its growth may easily be perceived with the unaided -eye, and a full-sized leaf produced in a single day. - -Leaves and flowers are usually quite mobile. When they go to sleep, -they droop and fold their edges together very carefully, sometimes to -such an extent as to make themselves almost invisible. Even such an -astute man as Linnaeus was once completely deceived by some sleeping -specimens of Lotus. They were very fine red flowers and he was proud -of them. Taking a friend to view them one evening by lantern-light, -what was his dismay to find that they had completely disappeared. He -concluded that they had been stolen or eaten by insects and went away, -only to find them in full array on his return the next morning. It -took several nocturnal visits to unravel the mystery and discover -that the flowers folded themselves and retired so adroitly into the -surrounding foliage each evening that they were completely hidden. - -The Acacia is a plant which closes up at night; the same phenomenon is -very striking in the Oxalis. The common Bean sleeps standing: that is, -its leaves close upward instead of downward. The little blue Veronica -flower, so strikingly brilliant and attractive in the daytime, tucks -itself in so snugly at bedtime that it becomes quite inconspicuous. A -Marigold called _Calendula Pluvialis_ even contracts its corolla every -time the sun is veiled by a passing cloud. These sleep movements all -have a scientific purpose. Their main object, just as in animals, is -to reduce bodily activities to a low ebb and so to give the plant a -chance to recuperate for another day’s efforts. The contraction of all -surfaces cuts down the radiation of heat and moisture and presents less -resistance to outside elements. The plant is in a quiescent, somnolent -state. - -There are other movements of leaves and flowers the object of which is -not quite so apparent. For instance, there is the _Hedysarum Gyrans_ or -Oscillating Sainfoin. Each of its leaves has three folioles. The center -one is very large and stands bolt upright, except at night, when it -condescends to bend its head in sleep. The two lateral folioles are in -perpetual oscillation both day and night. Nothing but a very hot sun -seems able to stop their movement. Possibly, this plant is a fresh air -fiend which requires a steady atmospheric flow upon its respiratory -surfaces! The two lateral folioles of each leaf are delegated to act as -fans and blow a constant supply of air upon their majestic brother. - -Similar oscillations have been noticed in some Orchids, where a part of -the flower’s corolla rises and falls with a regular rhythm not unlike -the beating of a human pulse. - -The stamens and pistils of flowers sometimes have the power of -movement. If an insect, wandering about in the flower of the Barberry -Tree (Berberis Vulgaris), happens to touch the base of a stamen, -it bends forward with a quick, spring-like motion and presently -straightens up again. The evident intent is to shower some pollen on -the little intruder with the hope that he may carry its vital principle -to some neighbour of the same species. - -In the _Parnassia Palustris_, fortunate observers have sometimes seen -the five stamens bend forward and beat on the head of the pistil in -rotation as if on an anvil. Perhaps outside pollen-carrying agencies -have passed this particular flower by and, in desperation, it is -resorting to self-fertilization. - -The _Junger Mania_, a plant allied to the Mosses, shows knowledge of -the laws of mechanics when it uses a natural spring coiled in a small -tube to project its seeds out into the world. Seeds of fresh-water -Algae swim about for a few hours after leaving their mother-plant, -vibrating their cilia with great rapidity. It is the ability of certain -one-celled plants to move about freely which causes considerable -discussion as to whether they are really not animals. The Diatoms are -examples. They propel themselves through the water by oscillating their -whole bodies from side to side. To reverse their direction they go -backward like a ferryboat. - -The ancients as far back as Aristotle recognized the sensitiveness of -plants to light and their eager use of its life-giving properties. In -fact, one has only to watch the Sun-Flower follow the orb of day across -the heavens to realize that there must be something vital in sunlight -for the plants. What interests us is that they have the instinct or the -knowledge to so present their surfaces to the light that they receive -a maximum benefit from its influences. From the aristocratic indoor -potted plant to the wild trees and shrubs on the edge of a thicket, we -notice a vigorous straining toward the light. Each leaf is tilted at -just the right angle to receive the largest possible share of energy, -for the leaves are starch factories for which the sun furnishes the -motive power. - -Botanists tell us that this heliotropism or turning motion toward the -light is due to the tendency of most leaves to arrange themselves -perpendicularly to the sun’s rays. Tendrils may be apheliotropic or -tend to turn away from the light. Morning Glories or Wistaria, which -climb up whatever support is handy, exhibit insensibility to light no -matter from what angle it strikes. Stems, flower and leaves of all -plants each give a different and scientific reaction to light in a way -which looks much like directing thought. - -Nothing is more scientific than the skill with which plants co-operate -with gravity in constructing their root systems. The roots are often -trained to grow out horizontally and resist gravity for a certain -distance. Then they gracefully yield to its pulling power, and, curving -their tips downward, grow straight toward the center of the earth. Any -secondary roots which are sent out again start horizontally to repeat -the above process on a smaller scale. All this makes for an efficient, -well-balanced root-system. - -A curious motion which is not thoroughly understood is a slight -gyratory movement observable in the tips of all living plants. It is -possible that it is connected in some way with the earth’s rotation or -is it merely a kind of groping, feeling gesture? In the case of roots, -where the same gyrations occur, it undoubtedly serves that purpose. A -revolving root tip makes a very efficient drill with which the hardy -plant may bore a way through refractory soil. It is claimed that the -great whirling sweeps made by tendrils of various climbers are merely -amplifications of the circumnutation occurring in all plant terminals. - -Before leaving the subject of scientific movement in the plant world, -it will be of interest to briefly consider some of the vegetable -motions which are called forth by the stimulus of touch. Almost -everyone is familiar with the Sensitive Plant and its double rows of -tiny leaves. Touch any one of them and the whole group will instantly -begin to contract and bend toward the stalk. We say begin, for so -slow is the transmission of the impulse that one can readily see its -progress, as one after another of the leaves respond. - -A motion which has forethought and design behind it occurs in the -leaves of the famous and crafty Venus Fly-Trap. Two sections of -leaves edged with teeth-like nerve-hairs form the two halves of an -enticing-looking bowl and cover. The slightest contact with one of -the delicate hairs will cause the trap to shut together and imprison -any sweet-toothed member of the insect world which has happened to -stray inside. An aquatic form of the same thing occurs in a species of -Bladderwort which spreads a leaf-net cunningly shaped to look like a -fish’s mouth. Frightened baby-fishes, accustomed to seek their mother’s -throat in time of danger, sometimes swim in and, brushing certain -nerve-hairs near the entrance, cause the lips to close and leave them -to slow dissolution. Both sinister and scientific are the movements of -carnivorous plants. - -Far from being static or quiescent, the plant world is a kingdom of -energetic, vibratory motion--a motion which is cool and calculating -and which rarely fails to accomplish its purpose. Even the protoplasm -of microscopic plant cells is in constant movement. If a thin slice -of Sycamore bark be placed under a microscope, a regular circulation -of cell-liquid, suggestive of blood circulation in animals, can be -observed. - -Plants show great skill in their use of water. It is their storage -of liquid in their cells which makes their soft bodies rigid and so -makes movement possible. This property sometimes called turgidity -was discovered by the scientist De Vries in 1877, the same year that -Pfeffer established the theory of osmosis. This latter is a phenomenon -which physicists find very difficult to explain and involves the -transmutation of one liquid into another through the medium of an -intervening membrane. - -Some plants have acquired the faculty of storing water in their bodies, -on which, camel-like, they can subsist for long periods of time. A -certain large tree-cactus of the American desert sometimes stores up -as much as seventeen hundred pounds or five barrels of water in the -wet season. When drought comes, its roots dry up and it lives entirely -on its internal resources. It is said that an eighteen-foot specimen -can exist for a year on its stored-up liquid. A branch on such a plant -may live and bloom after the trunk is dead. Many ordinary plants, such -as Turnips, Carrots, and Beets, store water along with starch and -dextrose in their underground tubers. Such subterranean reservoirs are -preferable to those above ground. - -Plants have paid particular attention to the manipulation of gases. -They maintain an internal atmosphere of their own composed of oxygen, -nitrogen and carbon dioxide in proportions varying greatly from those -of the outside air. If the stem of a Water Lily be broken below the -surface of a pond, gas bubbles will often be observed to issue from the -wound, indicating that the internal gas pressure of this particular -plant is greater than that of the external air. In other cases, the -reverse is true and we find partial vacuums within the bodies of plants. - -Man long ago found it impossible to “live on air” but the plants have -solved the difficulty of aerial existence and have become creatures of -the air rather than the earth, so far as their food is concerned. The -great bulk of the largest tree is preponderantly composed of carbon, -which has been slowly and labouriously extracted from the air. The -mineral salts and water which have been filtered out of the ground by -the roots are essential but are present in a much lesser quantity. - -It is well known that plants breathe in carbon dioxide and breathe out -oxygen. This can be graphically demonstrated by placing a plant in a -glass jar of carbon dioxide inverted in water. If its life processes -are quickened by exposure to sunlight, the plant will replace the CO₂ -with oxygen in a day. A more striking example is furnished by any -aquatic plant accustomed to growing submerged in ponds and rivers. -Placed in a water-filled bottle inverted in a pan of water, it will -generate oxygen so rapidly that the bubbles can be seen forming on -the leaves when the sun is allowed to strike them fully. The bottle -will become filled with oxygen in a few hours, and its presence can be -demonstrated with the usual ember test. - -Opposed to the absorption of carbon dioxide and the breathing out of -oxygen, which is really a digestive operation, the plants, queerly -enough, carry on a directly opposite process which involves the -absorption of oxygen and the breathing out of carbon dioxide. This -is a respiratory process akin to breathing in animals. It is carried -on in such a relatively small way that it does not seriously affect -the statement that “plants breathe in carbon dioxide and breathe -out oxygen” and so are purifiers of the air which man and animals -contaminate. - -Besides this general use of gases common to nearly all plants, a few -of the members of the vegetable world specialize in the production -of protective and poisonous vapours of various composition. One of -the most interesting of these is the Gas Plant of the South American -jungles. This beautiful white-flowered inhabitant of the tropics is -entirely protected from leaf-destroying insects and birds by the -poisonous vapours it constantly pours forth. - -The plants are expert chemists, and the reactions in which they engage -are, on the whole, much simpler than those which go on in the bodies -of animals. Vegetable tissue is largely carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and -nitrogen. It is a curious fact that instead of using the abundant -carbon compounds present in decomposed animal and vegetable matter of -the soil the plants get most of their carbon from the carbon dioxide -of the air. Inversely, they largely disregard the seventy-eight per -cent nitrogen of the air, and extract that element from the complicated -compounds found in the soil, or take it from the air only by aid of -certain Bacteria. - -Certain plants manufacture lime and metallic oxides with which to -harden the protective armour they wear. Many others generate nitric -acid, carbonic acid and ammonia for use in their interior laboratories. -Roots nearly always secrete a fluid which aids in the absorption of -minerals from the earth. It is so powerful that quartz, flint and -limestone are often scratched and corroded by its action. Above and -below ground, plants are active chemical laboratories. - -The differences of taste, smell and colour which characterize leaves, -blossoms and fruits are due to the presence of various organic -compounds. These are largely volatile oils which are more complex than -the substances involved in the simpler life processes. The slow or -rapid evaporation of these oils influences the strength and character -of an odour. When a flower or fruit passes through infinite gradations -of colour, we can give no adequate account of the chemical changes -involved. All we can do is to observe and to note. Sometimes infusions -of iron sulphate or other chemicals in the soil darken the hues of -flowers. Gardeners profit by this fact in the cultivation of certain -varieties of Hortensia. - -The chemical activities of plants are of incalculable value to man. -They change air, water and mineral salts into forms easily assimilable -by the human system. Eliminate all the vegetable life from this planet, -and the animals, including man, would perish in a few months. Man has -also learned to make abundant use of plant substances for innumerable -purposes. Potash is an example of how the plants come to our aid in -furnishing us a valuable chemical. It is extracted from wood, Seaweed -and Banana stalks. These plants have discovered a way of getting it out -of its well-nigh insoluble earth combinations with silica. If it had -not been for certain industrious sea plants, man would probably never -have been aware of the important chemical twins, bromine and iodine, so -important in photography. These plants patiently filter them out of sea -water where they exist in microscopic quantities, and build them into -their bodies. Beer is possible because germinating grains transform -amylum or plant starch into sugar. We find ripe fruits palatable -because their acids change into sugar under the influence of sunlight. - -Man seems to have outstripped the plants in the use of light, heat, -electricity, and other physical forces, but the plants have more -engineers among them than we imagine. In the fact that man has just -learned to extract nitrogen from the air by the agency of electrical -discharges, lies the probable explanation of how the plants have -been doing the same thing for years. It is believed that the minute -electrical discharges continually going on between the different air -strata make small quantities of nitrogen assimilable for the plants. -The micro-organisms which also furnish nitrogenous material to the -plants may get nitrogen from the air in the same way. It is quite -certain that the plants are affected by the chemical state of the -atmosphere. - -Everyone knows what an important part light plays in plant physiology, -but the fact that certain plants produce their own lights, while -generally known, is not universally understood. The Austrian -naturalist, Heller, was the first to demonstrate that the glowing of -decayed wood at night is caused by emanations of light from Fungus -growing in the cavities. A similiar organism called Luminous Peridineas -(sometimes classed as an animal) is responsible for the phosphorescence -of the ocean and the night lights of many flowers. - -About three hundred species of Bacteria and fifteen species of Fungus -are recognized to be luminous. The dead leaves of the tropical -Banibusa, Nephelium and Aglaia often glow at night with the light of -these tiny creatures. Ordinary dead Oak and Beech leaves are luminous, -sometimes shining in spots, but frequently glowing throughout with a -soft, white, steady light. These miniature incandescent lights often -shine for days, weeks and months, and with abundant nutriment at hand, -sometimes for years. The light is slight in intensity, but uniformly -steady and white, green or blue-green in colour. It is strong enough to -enable the plants on which the Fungus grows to photograph themselves by -long exposure to sensitized plates. The fungus light has also been used -to influence the heliotropic movements of plant seedlings. In fact, a -colony of Fungus has sometimes been placed in an electric light bulb -and made thus to serve as an illuminant. - -No matter from what angle we study the plants, we find that they are -extremely scientific. They conduct themselves and all their activities -in a way to always get the best results. They show knowledge and -acquaintance with all of Nature’s laws, and they have learned to apply -many of them with startling success. - -[Illustration: MODERN NATURE WORSHIPPERS] - - - - -CHAPTER X - -RELIGION IN THE PLANT WORLD - - “_Denied in heaven the soul he held on earth._” - - --_Byron_ - - -In a sense, the entire plant world is a beautiful and expressive -worship of a bountiful and beneficent Creator. No creed which does not -deny God will fail to see the silent but reverent adoration exhibited -by His handiwork. Every tree which raises its brave crest toward the -heavens, every flower which greets the warming sunlight with a smile, -is a testimony to the omnipotence of divine law. Fully explain the -wonders of a single blade of Grass, and you have solved the mysteries -which underlie the universe. - -Primitive peoples, who are always closely attuned to natural -influences, early discerned the divine thread which runs through all -plantdom. In their incessant search for God, they did not overlook His -manifestations in the plants and flowers. Along with fire, water, -stars, sun, moon, animals, birds and graven images, our wood-roving -ancestors ascribed supernatural attributes to many trees and flowers. -In various places and at various times, many different plants have been -idolized as the material substance of an ethereal or spiritual being. -Certain plant growths have been repeatedly designated as sacred, and -even in the present day, untutored races have many plant superstitions. -Tree worship was common among the Celts and Teutons. The present day -Christmas tree is a relic of primitive tree veneration. Even the -American Indians worshiped trees at times. Man has been groping for God -all through the ages. His tendency has been to deify those elements -and things which he did not understand or which contained mystery. As -soon as he became acquainted with the causes of these mysteries, the -supernatural collapsed into the natural and he went searching after new -wonders to call God. - -From the beginning of literature, the bards of every land have sung -to and of the flowers; the prophets have used them as instruments for -their sooth-saying; the believer in resurrection has cited them to -prove a final resurrection for the souls of men; the reincarnationists -have claimed in them a great evidence of the reincarnation of the soul; -the atheist has tried to show through them the validity of his belief; -hero and conqueror have found in them their crowns of glory and the -poet has made them the theme of his pen. Yet the flowers bloom today -much as they did on the hillsides of Greece and Babylon, and man, with -all his century-accumulated wisdom, seems but to have seen the outer -edge of their real lives. - -The superstitious veneration of various flowers is an ancient and -peculiarly charming expression of man’s innate appreciation of the -beautiful. He who condemns as idolaters the flower-worshippers of -ancient ages may well look upon himself with critical eyes. Which is -the better: to pay tribute to the Creator through the adoration of his -beautiful floral children or make cold, glittering gold the ultimate -though unacknowledged goal of this earthly life? - -It is interesting to notice, in reviewing the annals of flower-worship, -that the most fervent and frequent examples are found in tropical -countries. This is due, no doubt, to the luxuriance of vegetation in -the hot countries, and the fact that, in most cases, flowers are in -bloom there all the year around. Even one trained in a more rigid -faith is tempted to strange reverence when he suddenly comes upon a -great, glowing Orchid, squatting like some beautiful animal on the -shaggy trunk of an aged tree. A Hindu is quite excusable when he -becomes raptly worshipful while paddling through a floating sea of -Lotus-Flowers. - -In heathen mythology, “every flower was the emblem of a god; every tree -the abode of a nymph.” Paradise, itself, was a kind of “nemorous temple -or sacred grove” planted by God himself. The patriarchal groves which -are prominent throughout Biblical history were probably planted as -living memorials of the Garden of Eden, the first grove and man’s first -abode. - -Sacred flowers were common among the Greeks. The Anemone, Poppy and -Violet were dedicated to Venus. To Diana belonged “all flowers growing -in untrodden dells and shady nooks, uncontaminated by the tread -of man.” The Narcissus and Maiden-Hair Fern were under the special -protection of Proserpina and to Ceres belonged the Willow. The Pink was -Jove’s flower, while Juno claimed the Lily, Crocus and Asphodel. - -The life of Christ flings a bright and illuminating ray of light over -the whole vegetable world. Trees and flowers which have heretofore been -associated with various heathen rites now become connected with holier -names and are frequently made a part of the crucifixion itself. Hosts -of flowers are dedicated to the Virgin Mary, particularly white ones, -which are taken to be emblematic of her purity. Christian worshippers -even went to the classic Juno and Diana, to the Scandinavian Freyja -and Bertha, to obtain flowers to dedicate to her. The Passion Flower -was often taken to represent various incidents connected with the -crucifixion. - -Though the Rose and the Lily are the blossoms which are most frequently -associated with the Virgin, particularly in paintings, there is an -endless list of other flowers of low and high degree which are either -named after her or thought to be under her influence. - -Orchids are called “Our Lady’s Slipper.” Maiden-Hair is “Virgin’s -Hair.” The Thyme, Woodroof and Groundsel plants are reputed to have -formed the Virgin’s bed. Among fruits the Strawberry and the Molluka -Bean have been set aside for her worship. - -The “Rose of Jericho” is made famous by the Bible. Popular tradition -states that it first blossomed at Christ’s birth, closed at His -crucifixion and reopened at His resurrection. The legend of the -rose-coloured Sainfoin is especially interesting. One of the flowers -happened to be among the grasses and herbs lodged in the manger of the -Christ child. At the presence of that holy form, it suddenly opened its -blossoms to form a wreath for His head. - -A more gruesome tale relates that the Wood-Sorrel, Spotted Persicaria, -Arum, Purple Orchid and Red Anemone owe their dark-stained blossoms to -the blood which trickled from the Cross. - -Among the many theories regarding the identity of the wood of the -Cross, the one about the Mistletoe is especially fanciful. The -Mistletoe is alleged to have been originally a full-sized tree but -because of its ignoble part in the great Christian tragedy, it was -reduced to its present parasitical form. - -Every saint in the Catholic calendar has his own particular flower, -either because of some incident in his life with which it was connected -or because of arbitrary dedication. Care has been taken to pick flowers -which are in bloom at the time of the festival of the saint which -they represent. In this way, the flowers of the field make a living, -religious time-piece. - -Among the individual sacred flowers, Orchids and Lotus-Blossoms have -probably been known and reverenced as much as any. There is small -wonder that sentiment approaching veneration should exist toward -the Orchids. Their singular beauty and fragrance have compelled the -admiration of all historic peoples. The primitive Mexicans hold them in -very great esteem. The Lotus-Flower, portrayed through all the ages, -on papyrus, paper, silk, stone, and wood, has a world-wide sanctity. -The ancient Egyptians worshipped the Lotus in connection with the -mysteries of Isis and Osiris. The sculptural remains of the Nile abound -with the sacred plant in every stage of its development, the flowers -and fruit being represented with utmost accuracy. The Brahmans regarded -it as divine and the Hindus used it to decorate their temples and lay -on their religious altars. The Chinese also called it sacred. Brahma, -at his birth, is said to have come forth from the Lotus. Buddha and -other eastern deities, including the Chinese god Pazza, are reported to -have first appeared floating on its leaves. - -Sir William Jones was one time dining on the banks of the Ganges. -Desiring to examine the sacred Lotus-Flower, he despatched some of -his people to procure a specimen. When it was brought, his Indian -attendants immediately fell on their faces in adoration. - -The Yellow Narcissus is a famous fabled flower which originally came -from Palestine. Mahomet once said: “Whoever possesses two loaves of -bread, let him trade one for a blossom of Narcissus, for bread is -nourishment for the body, but the Narcissus for the soul.” The birth -of the Narcissus is narrated thus: In Sussexshire, England, the good -St. Leonhard once battled with a dragon for three whole days. Before -he was able to slay the monster, the doughty warrior was wounded with -consequent loss of blood. God could not bear to see the life fluid of -this holy man spilled heedlessly, so transformed each drop, as it fell, -into a Narcissus. - -“Consider the Lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, -neither do they spin; and yet I say unto you that even Solomon in -all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.” This is a great -tribute to the Lily and it has been similarly praised throughout all -literature. About this lovely flower hang myriads of sacred legends and -such titles as the “symbol of purity,” the “soul of beauty” and “the -symbol of peace.” In the lore of the Greeks and the Orientals, this -matchless flower was hailed with the Rose as the “Queen of Heaven.” -The Venerable Bede called it the most worthy symbol of the Virgin. He -said that its pure white petals represent her undefiled body and the -golden stamens her radiant soul shining with god-like light. Many old -paintings of the Virgin show her with a vase of Lilies by her side. - -The Rose is the universal symbol of royalty. In Greek mythology, it -was the favourite flower of Aphrodite and was represented as springing -from the blood of Adonis. Through all Norse and German mythology is -repeated reference to the “regal beauty” and “queenly mien” of the -Rose. In northern lands, the Rose was under the special protection of -the fairies, dwarves, and elves. - -The “Balm of Gilead” is a well-known sacred plant (_Balsamum Judaicum_) -written of by Pliny, Strabo and Justin and grown in many parts of the -East. It is said to have been first brought from Arabia by the Queen of -Sheba as a gift to Solomon. - -St. John’s Wort (_Hypericum Perforatum_) was dedicated to St. John -because its phosphorescent glow was remindful of the Biblical reference -to him as a “bright and shining light.” Some European peasants still -believe that, if gathered and worn on St. John’s Eve, it has the power -of bringing good luck and success. - -The Greeks and Romans used Verbena extensively in their religious -ceremonies, principally because of its wonderful perfume. The Romans -called it “the sacred herb” and regarded it as an aid in divinations -and omens. On New Year’s Day, it was sent to friends as a token of -greeting. The Roman generals wore a sprig in their pockets as a -protection against bodily injury. - -The Soma or Moon-Plant of India (_Asclepias Acida_) is a climbing vine -with milky juice which is said to confer immortality upon its admirers. - -Pomegranate was long reverenced by the Persians and Jews as the -forbidden fruit of the Garden of Eden. - -The Indian plant Basil for many centuries has been held in good repute -by the Hindus, having been made sacred to Vishnu. - -Mahomet pronounced Henna, the Egyptian Privet, “chief of the flowers of -this world and the next.” Wormwood was dedicated to the goddess Iris. - -If there are many plants which man’s adoration has made religious, -there are almost an equal number which his suspicion and perversity -have branded irreligious. A famous plant of this kind is the -Enchanter’s Nightshade which has long been celebrated in the mysteries -of witchcraft. Perhaps its usual place of growth in old graveyards -among decaying bones and mouldering coffins has much to do with the -sinister superstitions and legends connected with it. - -The Belladonna is another plant whose name is often associated with -black magic. - -To this day many Danes believe that the Elder is eternally cursed. -Children who sleep in beds containing Elder wood continually complain -of having their feet tickled and their legs pulled. To carry a cane of -Elder is to invite attacks of slander. Women who have Elder wood in -their houses will never be married. It is the elves who dwell in the -Elder who are supposed to work all this mischief. - -Plants often rise superior to the curse which men place upon them. -Probably every well-known plant, sometime in its history, has had -attributed to it both good and evil. The deity of one nation may become -the demon of another. - -Plant worship holds a more prominent place in the world today than one -would at first thought imagine, and it is not altogether confined to -uncultured peoples. Dr. George Birdwood tells of remarkable instances -of modern flower worship he saw in Bombay. In describing the Victoria -Gardens, he says: “Presently, a true Persian, in flowing robes of -blue, and on his head his sheep-skin hat, ‘black, glossy, curl’d, the -fleece of Kar-kal’, would saunter in, and stand and meditate over every -flower he saw, and always, as if half in vision. And when the vision -was fulfilled, and the flower he was seeking found, he would spread his -mat and sit before it until the setting of the sun, then fold up his -mat again and night after night, until that particular flower faded -away, he would return to it, and bring his friends in ever-increasing -troupes to it, and sit and play the guitar or lute before it, and they -would altogether pray there, and after praying still sit before it, -sipping sherbet, and talking the most hilarious and shocking scandal -late into the moonlight; and so again and again every evening until the -flower died. Sometimes, by way of grand finalé the whole company would -suddenly rise before the flower and serenade it together, with an ode -from Hafiz, and then depart.” - - - - -CHAPTER XI - -PLANT MYTHOLOGY - - “_I’ll seek a four-leaved clover - In all the fairy dells, - And if I find the charmed leaf, - Oh, how I’ll weave my spells._” - - -Every Plant is surrounded by a halo of human thought. If one is -able to discern that halo, he finds a new and fascinating interest -attaching itself to each herb and flower. The most humble of them -become fortune-tellers, luck-bringers, and talismen against evil, as -well as dwelling-places of fairies, elves, imps, and other ethereal -mischief-makers. - -In the childhood of humanity, the earth was a very romantic place. In -addition to the familiar human inhabitants, there were whole races of -supernatural and invisible beings which wielded great influence over -the every-day world of affairs. Every plant was considered good or -evil, according to the character of the spirits which it was believed -to harbour. - -People of this practical age are inclined to look upon these stories -with contemptuous intolerance. “We have outgrown such baby-talk,” they -say, and forthwith relegate whole kingdoms of elfin hosts to their -children’s nurseries, or possibly refuse them their homes entirely. But -to a few discerning minds, these idle dreams of a romantic past offer a -most refreshing contrast to present-day utilitarianism. - -The airy fancies of our forefathers should have a larger share in our -thought today. A single flower myth contains more beauty and enduring -appeal than a hundred steel mills. We must go back to the youth of the -race,--to the time of Shakespeare, Milton, and gentle Ben Jonson,--for -our noblest literature. In those days, men actually believed in -fairies, goblins, and all the rest, and were probably better for having -done so. We, with our broader intellectual outlook, can congratulate -ourselves that we have advanced beyond such things, but still -appreciate their spirit and their beauty. - -In studying plant mythology, it is interesting to notice that certain -traditions and legends are to be found in all parts of the world -and in many widely separated localities, forming, as it were, the -ground-work of a great universal system of folklore. This would suggest -that plant myths are founded mainly on true and inherent facts rather -than on passing fancies. Almost all the nations have chosen the Rose -for the queen of the floral court, and therefore the most fitting -symbol of love. The White Lily has purity written on its spotless -petals, and could never stand for anything else, anywhere. The Poppy is -a brilliant, sensuous flower, quite suggestive of the narcotic excesses -which its opium induces. Many extravagant plant beliefs of the past had -their foundation in medicine. In the Middle Ages, quacks and charlatans -used herbs having curative powers to exhort money from the masses. A -few of the correctives were of real value, but there were thousands -of out-and-out deceptions. Even so redolent and simple a thing as the -common Onion was sometimes suspended in a room in the belief that it -would draw all troublesome maladies out of the inmates. The first -herbalists were priests, but gradually their art passed into the hands -of professional outsiders, where it suffered greater and greater abuse. - -One ancient dogma taught that each plant possessed the power of healing -one particular disease, made known by some outward sign or similiarity. -Thus bright-eyed flowers were good for those with failing sight; red -blossoms of all kinds would arrest nose-bleed; Turmeric, a very yellow -dye, cured jaundice; plants with long, tubular flowers were excellent -specifics for throat troubles. - -Many of these medicinal superstitions linger among the more simple -of the earth’s inhabitants today. Dutch and English countrymen still -believe that a Potato carried in the pocket is a sort of protective -charm against rheumatism. In Ohio, the farmers sometimes wear a string -of Job’s Tears seeds in an effort to cure goitre. In New England, the -same magic charm is used to help babies through the troublesome period -of teething. - -The devil and his evil spirits have always wielded a large influence -over certain members of the plant kingdom. In Scotland, up until the -seventeenth century, it was customary to allow a small section of each -farm to lie untilled and uncropped as a peace offering to Satan. In -certain English counties, children of today will not pick Blackberries -after a certain date, believing that the Evil One has trampled them and -made them poisonous to humans. German peasants, without batting an eye, -will tell you that the devil, in one form or another, has the regular -habit of stealing portions of their crops. - -Of plants that are dedicated to Satan, or more properly, which he -has appropriated, there are many hundreds. Toadstools, because of -their miraculously fast growth and fantastic shape, have always been -associated with the kingdom of evil. It is not quite so apparent why -other more beautiful plants are also handed over to Satan, though a -reason can usually be found. The most alluring and gorgeous flowers are -quite apt to be poisonous. - -In old Bohemia, the Belladonna was a favourite of the devil. He -could be enticed from it on Walpurgis Night by letting loose a black -hen, after which he ran. In Russia, people shun the Sow-Thistle as a -devil-plant. Some Germans believe that evil spirits lurk in Lettuce -beds. To the same people, the Herban is the “Devil’s Eye.” Many -nationalities are quite sure that the Herb-Bennett, when kept in a -house, takes its owners out from under the devil’s influence. Thistle -is often used for the same purpose. The Greeks used to place a Laurel -bough over their doors to ward off evil. There is an English Fungus -called Lycoperdon, or Puff-Ball, which produces a mass of dusty spores -not unlike snuff. The annoyance experienced by people in the vicinity -of the bursting pods has led to the plant being called “Devil’s -Snuff-Box.” Children use it for various amusing pranks. - -Closely allied to the devil-plants are the witch-plants, vegetable -favourites of his human emissaries. The Elder is supposed to be a -frequent meeting-place of these sinister hags; under its branches they -bury their satanic offspring. - -The witches employ the deadly Night-Shade in their vile concoctions. -It is reputed to spring from the foam of the vicious, many-headed -dog which guards the infernal regions. The Vervain and the Rue are -also ingredients. The fact that the former was at one time sacred to -Thor, and was also used in the rituals of the Druids, is a possible -explanation of its evil name. Rue as a narcotic capable of producing -hallucinations, is most naturally a witch’s plant. Strange to say, -both of these plants are sometimes used as charms _against_ witches. -The Romans used the Vervain in casting lots, telling fortunes, and -foreshadowing national events. Many other plants, ordinarily harmless, -become the possessors of evil charms when gathered under certain -circumstances. Thus, Shakespeare speaks of “root of hemlock digg’d i’ -the dark,” and “slips of yew sliver’d in the moon’s eclipse,” as being -cast into the bubbling pot. - -The Fox Glove is “Witches’ Bell,” and is used by them to decorate -their fingers. They employ the large Ragwort as a steed for their -midnight journeys. In Ireland it is known as “Fairies’ Horse.” It -is said that witches use Fern seed to make themselves invisible. In -Germany they employ the Luck Flower for the same purpose. The Sea Poppy -and the Moonwart (_Botrychium Lunaria_) are also numbered among the -witch-plants. To the latter is also given the power of opening locks. - -In England, Pimpernel, Herb-Paris and Cyclamen are protections against -witches. In Germany and many other continental countries, the St. -John’s Wort is their enemy and exposer. - -The fairies have appropriated many flowers for their especial use. -Despite the disbelief of latter days, to some people elfland still -extends around the globe, and defies all the laws of chemistry and -physics. It is still fairy midnight trippings which form those -mysterious circles or depressions often to be noticed on the dewy sward -of early morning. When the peasant girls of England go out into the -meadows to beautify their complexions with applications of May dew, -they always leave these mystic circles severely alone, for fear of -offending the fays. - -Midnight is the fairy magic hour. At the trumpet call of the Harebell, -they gallop to their meeting-places mounted on blades of Grass or -on Cabbage leaves. Sometimes they assemble to the tolling of the -Wood-Sorrel or “Fairy Bell”. For more extended migrations, they travel -in Nuts. They usually dress in green and provide themselves with -mantles of Gossamer. The Irish ones use Fox-Glove blossoms to cover -their hands. In infancy, the fays are cradled in Tulips and throughout -life, they use the Cowslip as a drinking cup, and seek shelter of the -Wood-Anemone in wet weather. - -In some localities, it is believed that the fairies create the -Toad-Stools. They are also reputed to gather colours from the sunset -clouds, and with tiny but accurate brushes cover flower petals with -their delicate tints. Fairies seldom reveal themselves to men, but the -lucky possessor of a four-leafed Clover is sometimes privileged to see -them. - -From time immemorial, men and maidens in love have sought the aid of -their floral friends. Which of us is there who has not gone to the -Daisy in some heart perplexity of youth, and made its petals say, “She -loves me; She loves me not,” as we pulled them off one by one? An older -and less known superstition says that an Apple seed placed on a hot -stove will hop towards one’s future mate. - -In England, the Marigold is used for various love divinations, but in -Germany it is carefully excluded from affairs of the heart. In that -latter country the Star-Flower and the Dandelion are popular in such -cases. There was a time when Peas were much in demand for sentimental -forecasts. On opening a pod, the number of green spheres discovered had -a special significance. The dwarves were supposed to be especially fond -of Peas. Even the prosaic Onion has at times been used to explain the -mysteries of the divine emotion. - -The Rose, most superb of flowers, has been extolled through all ages as -the symbol of love. Incidentally, it is the national flower of England. -The Scotch have a pretty ballad legend about Fair Margaret and Sweet -William. The beautiful love of these two young people never realized -itself in marriage. They both met an untimely death and were buried -on either side of the neighbouring church. Soon there sprang up a -climbing Rose vine from the grave of each, and meeting on the gable of -the church, the lovers entwined in the lasting embrace which had been -denied in life. Red Roses, because of their colour, have sometimes been -supposed to have a relation to human blood. The medieval girl used to -bury a few drops of her blood under a Rosebush in the hope that this -action would bring her ruddy cheeks. The Romans used the Rose as the -symbol of love for the dead. They placed it extensively on their tombs. - -In the past, there have arisen rumours of plants of wondrous properties -which have been the mere inventions of glory-seeking travelers. Sir -John Mandeville was a famous offender who even issued reports of trees -which produced live animals in their fruits. - -The old Greeks used to decorate their tombs with Parsley. When a person -was dangerously ill, it was often said, “He has need now of nothing but -Parsley.” - -The humble Bean has at times been afforded superstitious reverence. It -is said that Pythagoras forbade his disciples to eat it. - -The anxiety to secure good crops has led to many superstitious -practices. In the pagan days of Germany and likewise in Rome, an image -was carried around each field in order to insure its fertility. After -the introduction of Christianity, the image of a saint was substituted -for the heathen deity, and the practice continued. - -Again and again, the Onion, whose name today is only mentioned with -bated breath, crops up among old plant superstitions. Because of its -structure of enveloping sheaths, the Egyptians rightly considered -it a splendid symbol of the universe. In Christian days, St. Thomas -patronized it. Its cousin, the Leek, bears the blossom which Welshmen -still hail as their national flower. It is worn by all loyal patriots -on March first, St. David’s Day. - -The Thistle, Scotland’s national flower, was once sacred to Thor. In -those days it was regarded as a safeguard against lightning, from which -it got its colour. Ireland’s Shamrock belongs to the Trefoil family, -and is sometimes called Dutch Clover, though the Wood-Sorrel is claimed -by some to be the true Shamrock. St. Patrick once used it as a natural -symbol of the trinity, through which it became nationalized. - -Superstitions of the four-leafed Clover have lingered in the -imaginations of men almost more than those of any other plant. To be -efficacious in bringing good luck, the little talisman must be found -unawares. If slipped into the shoe of a lover, it will insure his safe -return. The finding of a five-leaved Clover brings bad luck. - -Superstition plays its part in the evolution of knowledge, and -speculation is the parent of modern science. Astrologers, reading the -fortunes of nations and individuals in the stars, paved the way for the -great and exact science of astronomy. Studious alchemists in searching -for a cheap way to make gold, laid the foundations of the profound -science of chemistry. In a similar way, the old herbalists, with their -secret potions and mysterious compounds, were the instigators of the -accurate study of medicine, and most important from our standpoint, -were instruments which greatly advanced the love and growing -appreciation of plants and flowers. - - - - -CHAPTER XII - -MYSTICISM IN THE PLANT WORLD - - “_Who passeth by the Rosemarie - And careth not to take the spraye, - For woman’s love no care has he, - Nor shall he though he live for aye._” - - -One day John G. Allen of Cherry, Arizona, went fishing along a small -tributary of the River Verde. His skill with the rod seeming to fail -him, he decided to make his outing profitable in other directions by -hunting through some neighbouring cliff-dwellings for pottery. While -wandering through those ancient and curious abodes, he accidentally -discovered a section of wall which looked as though it might have -been built to close a former opening. Careful investigation revealed -the truth of this surmise, for, with a little perseverance, he broke -through and removed enough stone to admit his body into a small room or -recess, which contained some pottery and household utensils of extreme -age. - -In one corner of this prehistoric place, Mr. Allen discovered a few -Corn cobs and about a dozen Squash seeds. More as a joke than anything -else, he planted twelve of the seeds the next spring. - -Eleven of them remained insensate to the revivifying influence of -earth, sun and water, but the twelfth took courage and, bursting the -walls which had imprisoned it for hundreds and possibly thousands of -years, sprang up into a hardy, healthy vine, which eventually bore a -huge, green, extremely warty Squash weighing nearly twenty-five pounds. -This vegetable visitor from a shadowy age was named the “Aztec,” and -attained great fame. - -There have been other and more striking instances of the suspended -animation which permits plant life to lie quiescent for countless -centuries, ready for an opportune time to resume the regular cycle of -its existence. There are those who are always ready to cry “fraud,” and -conclusively prove these marvels false, but there is abundant evidence -to show that plant embryos can and, in some cases, do survive long -periods of time. - -What a lesson lies in such phenomena! The power that can keep alive and -unchanged the cells of a vegetable seed so many centuries is not likely -to allow the soul of a man to perish. What an argument for immortality! -What a breeder of strange and mysterious thoughts! - -There is much mysticism in the plant world. What man does not -understand, he either holds in awe or contempt. The plants are too -often treated with good-humoured derision, but among higher minds, -their unintelligible factors give them a greater fascination--a mystery -and a psychic interest which is very alluring. - -The plants seem to be closer in tune with Nature than man. They place -themselves under her direct tutelage, and are extremely sensitive to -her various moods and fancies. They respond to influences of weather -and time with remarkable alacrity. The scarlet Pimpernel in particular, -is an excellent barometer. At the least indication of rain, it folds -its petals together in snug security, and, contrary to human beings, -closes instead of opens the umbrella of its body. On a rainy day, it -never unfolds at all, so eager is it to keep its petals dry. - - “No heart can think, no tongue can tell, - The virtues of the Pimpernell.” - -The greatest of all floral barometers is the Weather-Plant or Indian -Licorice (_Abrus Precatorius_). So keenly sensitive to all atmospheric -conditions is this plant that it may be used to foretell cyclones, -hurricanes, earthquakes, and even volcanic eruptions. Its small, -rose-like leaves are in continual motion, which varies noticeably under -different electrical and magnetic influences. The Austrian Professor -Norwack, working at his Weather-Plant Observatory at Kew Gardens, -London, once used it to predict a disastrous fire-damp explosion. - -Many flowers show a remarkable appreciation of the passage of time and -open and close at regular hours each day. In fact, a close student -of floral habits can actually tell the time of day by watching the -actions of the flowers around him. It is said that the Swedish botanist -Linnaeus once built himself a flower clock, arranged to count the -passing hours by the folding and unfolding of different blossoms. One -does not really need to go to this trouble. The common flowers of -the field and garden are all accurate time-pieces. Long before the -rising of the sun their activity begins; in fact even the night hours -are all noticed by certain more obscure plants. Along about three in -the morning, the dainty Goat’s-Beard wakes from sleep and spreads -its petals. Promptly at four o’clock the Dandelion begins its day’s -work. The Naked Stalked Poppy, the copper-coloured Day-Lily and the -smooth Sow-Thistle are five o’clock risers. The Field Marigold is a -slug-a-bed, and does not blink its sleepy eyes at the sun until ten -o’clock. The Ice-Plant throws back its downy coverlets exactly at noon. - -Shortly after mid-day, the early risers begin to get tired, and -prepare to sleep through the heat of the afternoon. Beginning with the -Hawkweed Picris shortly after noon, and extending to the bed-time of -the Chickweed at ten at night, every quarter hour sees the retirement -of some particular flower. After sundown, the night owls make their -appearance, and such plants as the Night-Blooming Cereus, the -Moonflower, and the Datura check off the fleeting minutes. How can this -marvelous acquaintance with the passage of time be explained in terms -of cold materialism? - -Among plants which show a well-developed sense of direction, the -Compass-Plant is probably the most remarkable. Its flowers, and -sometimes the edges of its leaves, always point toward the north with -the certainty of a magnet. Travelers have been known to use it as a -natural guide. - -A great many plants perform remarkable acts which can only be explained -by the possession of some measure of psychic sense or quality. Thus, -a climbing plant in need of a prop will creep along the ground toward -the nearest vertical support. If the support is shifted, the vine will -promptly change the direction of its progress, and eventually reach the -object of its desires. - -Inasmuch as it is positively known that plants are sensitive to light, -it may be that, in this case, the vine actually perceives the support -through a process akin to animal sight; but if a climbing plant finds -itself growing between two mounds or ridges, and behind one there is -a wall or some other means of support, and behind the other none, it -will invariably bend its creeping steps over the ridge hiding the wall. -The wall was invisible from the plant’s starting-point, and certainly -betrayed its presence through no odour or other manifestation. In -some mysterious way, the creeper simply knew that a vital necessity -of its life lay in a certain direction. Ordinarily, we associate such -phenomena with psychic influences. It is quite evident, that in certain -ways, the plants display a very practical knowledge of such mysteries. - -For many years, man has instinctively been aware of this psychic -superiority of the members of the vegetable kingdom, and has gone to -them for advice in various troubles and difficulties, even sometimes -believing the plants to have a direct control over the affairs and -lives of men. While the great mass of such alleged influence is classed -by modern thought as merest superstition, who can say that the wildest -of these fancies does not contain certain germs of truth? At any rate, -a brief investigation of some of the more popular beliefs of former -years is very illuminating. - -In ancient days, many flowers and plants were supposed to possess -the power of discovering the location of lost or hidden riches and -conducting a human searcher to them. The Germans named the Primrose -Schlüsselblume, or key-flower, in the belief that, if held in the -hand, it would unlock to its possessor the location of buried treasure -by some movement or other manifestation. To this day, many country -people in Europe and America have implicit faith in the ability of the -divining rod to seek out underground water. There are many enlightened -folk who claim that reported successes of this method of picking -well-sites are mere coincidences, but in view of the wide-spread -reliance on this theory which is constantly meeting the most practical -tests, would it not be open-minded to suggest that possibly the -branches of the rod do make some slight movement toward the hidden -water with which they have a natural affinity? - -As mentioned in a previous chapter, young people through all ages have -gone to flowers for counsel when in love. The most frequent masculine -question has been “Does she love me?” The flowers have given the answer -in a variety of ways, most often by the number of their petals. The -query of the very young girl usually has been “Will I be married?” -and she has been sure to see that the reply is most often in the -affirmative. In _A Midsummer Night’s Dream_, Oberon tells Puck to lay -Pansies on Titania’s eyes in order that she may fall in love with the -first person she sees upon awakening. - -There was a time when people placed great reliance upon the efficacy -of dreams. Plants seen in dreams always had special significance. -Among the various omens, general good fortune was indicated by Palms, -Olives, Jessamines, Lilies, Laurels, Thistles, Currants and Roses. When -flowers or fruit of the Plum, Cherry, Cypress and Dandelion appeared, -misfortune was indicated. Withered Roses foretold especially dire -events. “Nobody is fond of fading flowers.” A four-leaved Clover -put under a pillow induced dreams of one’s lover. In parts of South -America, the natives are said to smoke and eat certain intoxicating -plants in the hope that they may see visions in the resulting narcotic -dreams. - -Plants have not been the cause of very many ghost stories, but -occasionally one hears of some mysterious night adventure of which some -plant is the central figure. - -The Reverend S. H. Wainright of Japan tells a somewhat amusing tale of -a ghost scare he and his family had while living at Tsukiji, Tokio. -One evening, while sitting around the fire, they were considerably -disturbed by a weird and recurring sound which seemed to come from the -front yard. At first they took it for the creaking of a bamboo gate, -then for boys throwing pebbles, but neither of these explanations -seemed adequate. Finally, continual repetitions led to a search which -located the noises in a Wistaria arbour near the front fence. On near -approach, the loud taps sounded so much like stones striking the -leaves, that it was decided to take no further notice of the matter. -However, the problem weighed on Mr. Wainright’s mind, and he and his -son at length sallied forth a third time, determined with Aristotle -that the main thing was to know the causes. - -“We entered the side yard through the bamboo gate and approached the -Wistaria. Underneath the Trellis arbour there were dark shadows and -outlines were indistinct. A Palmyra Palm was growing in the corner -of the fence under the arbour, and the fingers of one of the leaves -pointing downward seemed to be the hand of a man. When expectation is -running high, a fingered palm leaf may easily become the hand of a -human being or of a shadowy ghost. We had the electric burners brought -to the windows upstairs and the light thrown toward the arbour, and the -shadows cast by the electric rays rendered the situation all the more -mysterious. - -“The noises were plainly among the Wistaria vines. But, strange to -say, the stones which seemed to be striking the vines came from no -particular direction. They seemed to burst like shells the minute -they struck and the pieces were heard to fall or strike in different -directions. By this time the thought of ghosts had not only occurred to -us but was gaining force in our minds. Indeed, a first-rate romance was -developing--subjectively, I should no doubt add.” - -Again the party abandoned the quest, returned to their fireside, -but could not rest content. “With a heroic determination of will, I -declared that I would again go in search of the causes and not return -until the secret had been found out. The lights were held by those who -remained indoors at the upstairs windows. Two of us approached through -the side yard the place of mystery. Step by step we advanced, stopping -at intervals to listen. We could see nothing, but the noises we heard -were unmistakable. There could be no deception as to their reality. -Step by step, we drew nearer, peering in the meanwhile into the dark -shadows beneath the Wistaria. The nearer we came to the arbour, the -greater was the sense of mystery which possessed us. The noises were -weird and inexplicable. As we came near, a discovery was made which -excited us still more. After the explosion of the shells, white sabers -seemed to fall upon the ground. Were the ghosts in battle? What could -it all mean? - -“Loyal to the heroic determination to go straight to the seat of the -trouble, I walked beneath the Wistaria arbour feeling an atmosphere -charged with electricity as I went. We stood side by side looking -about and waiting, when suddenly a Fuji pod exploded before our -eyes. The seeds flew in different directions and the divided halves -of the pod fell to the ground and lay like sabers dropped in the -attack of battle. When the discovery was made, one of us called out -to the upstairs window that it was the explosion of the Wistaria pods -that caused the noises. There was a general laugh and the ghosts -disappeared. Not affected by rain or darkness, by heat or cold, by -human foot-steps or voice, there is one thing ghosts cannot endure; to -be laughed at literally slays them.” - -In the Middle Ages, the Mandrake was a magical plant which was reputed -to shine like a candle at night and thrive particularly well near the -gallows. When pulled from the earth, it uttered uncanny shrieks, and -according to Shakespeare “living mortals hearing them ran mad.” - -Two centuries ago it was believed that every plant, as well as every -human being, was under the influence of some particular planet. The -plants over which Saturn claimed an ascendency were characterized by -ill-favoured leaves, ugly flowers and repellent odours. On the other -hand the plants of Jupiter displayed smooth leaves and graceful, -fragrant flowers. Today we believe that all plants belong to only one -planet, and that is the planet earth. - -In the minds of agricultural folk, the moon has always had great -influence over vegetation. There are many rules still extant regarding -the proper time of that satellite’s phases in which to plant, reap -and perform a hundred other rustic acts. A medieval superstition -stated that when the moon was on the increase it imparted healing and -medicinal qualities to all herbs. During its decline, the same plants -generated poisons. - -The mystic qualities of the flowers have been responsible for their -extensive ceremonial use throughout all history. Man attempts to -express all his more subtle emotions by their sweetness and purity. -He carries them alike to christenings, weddings and funerals, and -invariably sends them to his best girl. It is recorded that a certain -eastern king of antiquity was in the habit of offering a hundred -thousand flowers each day before the idol of a favourite god. - -Flowers are still extensively used as signs and symbols. There are -ponderous volumes written on the “Language of Flowers.” All the garden -beauties have a natural symbolism written on their faces. Rosemary, -with its lingering colour, is an eternal emblem of remembrance. -“Violets dim but sweeter than the lids of Juno’s eyes or Cytherea’s -breath” speak of modesty in quiet tones. The spotless Lily must always -stand for purity. - -Other floral symbols have been chosen for more remote but quite -apparent characteristics. Impatience is indicated by the Balsam -seed-pods, which, when ripe, curl up at the slightest touch, and shoot -forth their seeds with great violence. A popular name for the plant -is “Touch-Me-Not.” The very name of Heliotrope tells of its constant -turning toward the sun. It is often referred to as a symbol of devoted -attachment. Aspen, because of its tremulous motion has been made a sign -of fear. When people think of the Poppy and its narcotic product, they -likewise think of sleep and oblivion. A less apparent symbol is found -in the Wild Anemone, which is taken to denote brevity because its -frail petals are soon scattered by the boisterous wind. The Snow-Drop, -first flower of spring, peeping from its immaculate snow bank, is an -unmistakable emblem of purity. - -The ancients were very liberal users of floral tokens; the Chinese, -Assyrians and Egyptians had many identical beliefs on the subject. The -Olive was and still is the universal badge of peace. Laurel was the -classic sign of renown with which the brows of prominent athletes and -statesmen were crowned. The Cypress was often an index of mourning. The -Rose and the Myrtle, having been dedicated to Venus, were insignias -of love. The Palm was a wide-spread representation of victory. Bible -students will recall that Palms were scattered before Jesus Christ on -the occasion of his triumphant entry into Jerusalem. - -In their enthusiasm, flower-lovers have sometimes allowed their -imagination to carry them into unnatural and artificial symbolism. It -is not difficult to associate the White Lily with purity but when we -are told that the Flowering Almond represents hope, the Common Almond -indiscretion and stupidity, and the Floral Almond perfidity, one is -reduced to looking up this curious code in an indexed book. When each -variety of the Rose family has different and fluctuating significance, -a swain hesitates to summon the floral language of love to his aid. - -Many people believe that peculiar mystic attachments exist between -certain birds and flowers. The Persians claim that whenever a Rose -is plucked, the nightingale utters a plaintive cry as if to protest -against the wounding of the object of its love. Many other birds show -marked affection for various plants. - -In the same manner, almost every man and woman has his or her favourite -flower. Certain persons of a temperamental type are often emotionally -affected by the presence of flowers with which they appear to have -a mysterious psychic connection. Certain people claim to be able to -discern such marked similiarity between human beings and various flower -affinities that they undertake to liken various prominent people to -different blossoms. There is much chance for scientific investigation -in this field. With Perdita we at least know that “flowers of middle -summer should be given to men of middle age, but for our young prince -we want flowers of the spring that may become his time of day.” - -Sometimes, through sentimental attachment, whole peoples elect certain -flowers to represent them before the world. Thus the United States has -chosen the Goldenrod for its national floral emblem, while the Rose of -England, the Thistle of Scotland, the Shamrock of Ireland, and the Leek -of Wales act in the same capacity for the British Isles. - -Man paid a high compliment to the mystic veneration in which he holds -the plant world when he, in his primitive beliefs, invariably conceived -of heaven as some terrestrial paradise of luxurious vegetation. The -Persians had their Mount Caucasus; the Arabians dreamed about an -Elysium in the Desert of Arden; the Greeks and Romans had bright mental -pictures of the Gardens of Hesperides; and the Celts hoped to spend -their postmortem existence on an enchanted isle of wondrous beauty. - -Such beliefs have fallen into disuse, but man is still a long way off -from a solution of the various mystic phenomena of the plant world. -Botanists should leave off indexing and classifying plants for a while -and endeavour to discover the subtle and fascinating laws of their -psychic existence. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII - -PLANT INTELLIGENCE - - “_The Marigold goes to bed with the sun, - And with him rises weeping._”--_Shakespeare_ - - -It is no new thing to believe in the existence of intelligence among -plants. As far back as Aristotle, various great minds in the earth’s -history have ascribed definite, thinking acts to our floral and -vegetable friends. Not a few have seen unmistakable evidences of soul -in plantdom. Even the most skeptical have become aware of many things -they cannot explain in purely mechanistic terms. - -We are still living in an age which has deified human wisdom. Man -has built up vast systems of knowledge and law, all based on his own -deep-rooted convictions. He approaches every subject with apriori -beliefs and presumptions. He is slow to acknowledge thinking powers to -his companion creatures of a terrestrial universe. - -[Illustration: ALLIES OF THE DESERT ARM THEMSELVES WITH PRICKLES AND -THORNS AGAINST THEIR ANIMAL ENEMIES] - -To a person on a country road, the wayside trees and flowers are -too often mere happenings or creations. Their ways are so quiet and -undemonstrative, that, if he has never been taught differently, he -rarely thinks of classifying them as independent, free-acting beings. -The fact that they are anchored to the soil seems to remove them from -the realm of self-willed creation. Yet why should it? Are fishes not -doomed to pass all their days in the chemical combination of hydrogen -and oxygen we call water? Does not the delicate Canary die if the air -surrounding it goes below a certain temperature? - -The fact is that many plants exhibit all the elemental qualities of -human intelligence and also have vague psychic expressions of their own -which we only understand in a very limited way. - -What causes the radicle or root of the smallest sprouting seedling -always to grow down and the plumule or stem always to grow up? It -cannot be gravity because that great earth pull would affect both parts -equally. This same radicle, when it has developed into a full-fledged -root, feels and pushes its way through the earth in a marvellous -fashion searching out water and traveling around obstructions with -unerring exactness. The slightest pressure will serve to deflect it; -aerial roots have been observed to avoid obstacles without actually -coming in contact with them. The plants use their roots to feel their -way to moisture and nourishment just as a man would feel his way with -his hands. The great Darwin, himself, wrote many years ago: “It is -hardly an exaggeration to say that the tip of the radicle thus endowed, -and having the power of directing the movements of the adjoining parts, -acts like the brain of one of the lower animals.” - -In the same way, plant tendrils seek and search out the best supports, -after the manner of animal tentacles. When fully wound around a prop, -they drag the body of the plant up after them. - -Practically all plants show a full knowledge of the importance of -sunlight to their life processes. They usually strain all their -energies and exert all their ingenuity in an effort to display as great -a leaf surface as possible. That this action is not always purely -instinctive is indicated by the response of certain carnivorous plants -to light. Having learned that success in capturing their prey depends -upon a static position of their leaves, they make no effort to adjust -their parts to strong or concentrated light. This is clearly a case of -intelligent adjustment to environment. - -It is interesting to note that the plant cells which are sensitive to -light often become tired or partially blinded just like the retina of -an animal eye. Darwin found that plants kept in darkness were much more -responsive to light than those which dwelt habitually in the sunshine. - -Many plants are wonderful weather prophets and keepers of time. Their -reactions to the coming of night, showers, heat, cold and other -natural phenomena show much wisdom. That plants require the rest which -accompanies sleep is indicated by the weakened and degenerate condition -of individuals which are sometimes forced to exceptionally rapid -development by continual exposure to electric light. - -A human faculty which few people associate with plants, is an acute -sense of taste. How else do the plants know what elements to absorb out -of the soil? Certain experiments have enabled investigators to discover -marked taste preferences of a number of microscopic plants. Bacteria -are exceptionally fond of kali salts. Though they thrive equally well -on glycerine, they can be lured from it at any time by the toothsome -kali solution. - -A sense of taste plays a remarkable part in the fecundation of Moss. -The male element is composed of swift-swimming cells equipped with -vibratory hairs. When deposited by the wind or other means on the cups -of the female flower, they swim about in the moisture until they are -eventually enticed to the unfertilized eggs at the bottom by their -taste for malic acid. That this is no idle theory can be proved in the -laboratory. The seed-animalcules of some of the Ferns also are urged to -the act of impregnation by their preference for the sugar in the seed -cups. - -All through the plant world we see actions and habits which are the -reverse of automatism or mere instinctive response. Every plant -continually has to meet new and trying conditions, and while its -reactions, just like those of man, are frequently in the terms of -racial and individual experience, it is constantly called upon to make -new and novel decisions. - -Consider the intelligence of a wild Service Tree described by -Carpenter. As a seed, it sprouted in the crotch of an Oak, and at once -sent a lusty root down toward the earth. As it descended the Oak trunk -and neared the ground, its further progress was barred by a large stone -slab. It is authentically recorded, that, when still one and one-half -feet away, the tip of the root, by direct perception or occult means, -discovered the presence of the obstruction, and, at once splitting into -two equal branches, passed on either side of the stone. - -A more remarkable case is that of a tropical Monstera, which, coming -into life on top of a greenhouse, sent canny and vigorous roots -directly down to certain water tanks on the ground. - -Isolated instances of plant intelligence might be mere coincidences if -it were not for the fact that they multiply greatly the further one -investigates. The common Potentillas and Brambles show remarkable -sagacity in searching out hidden veins of soil among the rocks where -they grow. Nothing is more ingenious than the way in which Hyacinths, -Primroses and Irises smother competitive seedlings by putting forth -large, low-lying leaves to cut off the light of neighbours. - -Plants are great inventors, and by continual experimentation have -perfected thousands of ingenious devices to help them in their life -struggles. Many of these have to do with the all-important processes -of reproduction and cross-fertilization. The elaborate organs which -oftentimes force visiting insects to aid the flowers in their -love-making are conclusive proofs of directing intelligence. If, as is -generally believed, vegetable life preceded animal life on this planet, -then the plants must have developed these special reproductive organs -in which insects act as the fertilizing agents as direct attempts to -benefit the race by cross-breeding. - -While cross-fertilization is vitally necessary for the maintenance of -a vigorous and hardy stock, inbreeding either between flowers of the -same plant or even between the organs of a single bi-sexual flower is -often practiced. In the love-making of the Grass of Parnassus and the -Love in the Mist (_Nigella_), we have a very pretty and intelligent -act. The flowers are unisexual and, as the females usually grow on -much longer stalks than the males, the latter would not have much -chance of showering their pollen on their consorts, if it were not for -the fact that, at the proper season, without outside stimulation, the -“tall females bend down to their dwarf husbands.” This surely is as -intelligent and conscious as the mating of animals. - -The carnivorous plants act with uncanny wisdom. The insect-devouring -Sundews pay no attention to pebbles, bits of metal, or other foreign -substances placed on their leaves, but are quick enough to sense the -nourishment to be derived from a piece of meat. Laboratory specimens -have been observed to actually reach out toward Flies pinned on cards -near them. So highstrung are these sensitive organisms that they can -be partially paralyzed if certain spots on their leaves are pricked. - -Many people have no hesitancy in ascribing considerable intelligence -to the higher animals; why do they balk at making the same concession -to plants? If you concede intelligence to a single animal, you -concede _some measure_ of brain-power to all animals down to the -one-celled Amoeba, and so must grant the same favour to the plant -world. Plants and animals, besides having many habits in common, -in their simplest forms are often indistinguishable. Both reduce -themselves to single-celled masses of protoplasm. The Myxomycetes are -both so plant-like and at the same time so animal-like that their -classification “depends rather on the general philosophical position of -the observer than on facts.” Possibly they are both animal and plant at -the same time--a sort of “missing link” connecting the two kingdoms of -life. - -Anent the same question Edward Step says, “Modern thought denies -consciousness to plants, though Huxley was bold enough to say that -every plant is an animal enclosed in a wooden box; and science has -demonstrated that there is no distinction between the protoplasm of -animals and plants, and that if we get down to the very simplest forms -in which life manifests itself we can call them animals or plants -indifferently.” - -When one considers the rooted, plant-like life of Mollusks and Hermit -Crabs, and then the active, animal-like life of the free-swimming Moss -spores and the wind-borne Fungi, he is tempted to wonder if, after all, -this talk of plants and animals, is not just another of man’s arbitrary -classifications, which may be superceded in time by some other system -of nomenclature. - -Of only one thing are we sure, and that is that all life is one--an -expression of the intelligence and power which pervades the universe. - -Many readers may vaguely feel and believe these facts and yet not be -certain that plants are individually and personally intelligent; long -training makes them still feel that the many admittedly clever and -ingenious acts recorded every day in plantdom are but the indications -of some external mind or force working through Nature. The plants act -in certain ways because they have no choice in the matter; they are -passive tools in the hands of such craftsmen as “instinct,” “heredity,” -and “environment.” The answer to this is that you can ascribe an -exactly similar fatalistic interpretation to every human thought, word -or deed. What you consider the freest decision of will you made today -can be shown conclusively to be the result of a long train of acts and -influences which stretches back to Adam. It would have been impossible -for you to have acted differently. - -Such blanket reasoning leads nowhere. If you believe that you are a -free, independent, decision-making soul (and who does not?) logically -you must grant the same rights to the humble Squash. - -Even in the terms of man’s own science, the plants can be shown to be -intelligent. The psychologist Titchner classifies the three stages of -mental processes as (1) Sensations (2) Images and (3) Affections. The -term “affection” is here used in the special sense of a capacity for -entering into intellectual states of pleasure or pain. - -In view of what has already been said, it hardly seems necessary to -prove the existence of sensation in plants. The very fact that all life -is a constant response to stimuli and the adjustment to environment -presupposes the existence of plant sensation. Only a few hours passed -in the investigation of plant habits will show our vegetable friends -giving definite responses to heat, cold, moisture, light, and touch, -while laboratory experiments show their sensitive powers of taste and -hearing. - -The touch sense of the Sundew is developed to such an extent that it -can detect the pressure of a human hair one twenty-fifth of an inch -long. The tendrils of the Passion Flower attempt to coil up at the -slightest contact of the finger and as quickly flatten out upon its -removal. The stamens of the Opuntia or Prickly Pear have specialized -papillae of touch exactly similar to the papillae of the Hermione Worm. -When rubbed by the body of an insect, they transmit an impulse which -causes the anthers to let loose a shower of pollen on the intruder. -The animal world cannot exhibit a higher sensitiveness to touch than -that displayed by the celebrated Venus Fly-Trap. On each side of the -leaf midrib stand three sharp little bristles. They are the sense -organs controlling the closing of the vegetable spring. Quick must an -insect be to escape their vigilance. - -Sensation and imagery are so closely connected in the human brain that -the existence of one would seem to predicate the other. Fortunately, we -have very good evidence to indicate the faculty of plant memory, which -must necessarily be built up of images of one kind or another. - -If a plant which is accustomed to folding its leaves together in sleep -on the setting of the sun, be placed in a completely dark room, it -will continue to decline and elevate its foliage at regular intervals, -indicating that it remembers the necessity for rest even with the -reminder of outside stimuli lacking. - -By what faculty do plants become aware of the approach of spring? -Only occasionally are they deceived by January thaws, and no matter -how unseasonably cold a March may be, they go right ahead with the -preparation of April buds and leaves. So accurate is plant knowledge -about the seasons that Alpine flowers often bore their way up through -long-lingering snow, even developing heat with which to melt the -obstruction, when they feel that spring has really come. What gives -plants such courage in the face of contradicting elements, if not an -accurate sense of the passage of time and therefore the memory of other -seasons, which implies imagery? - -Until we develop a workable system of thought communication with -plants, we can never scientifically prove that plants are capable -of psychological “affections” or emotions. Mental states are purely -personal matters. We would never be sure that any other human being -went through feelings of love, anger, hate and pity, similiar to our -own, if he were not able to tell us of them. Until the plants can -describe to us their inner emotions, we can never definitely know -whether they have real feelings, and if they parallel the human variety -in any degree. But just as we have become able to read a man’s mental -processes by his facial expressions, tone of voice and bodily posture, -so we can guess at plant emotion by external manifestations. When a -flower greets the morning sun with expanded petals, uplifted head and -a generally bright appearance, why should we not say it is happy and -contented? When an approaching storm causes a plant to droop its body -and contract its petals and leaves into the smallest compass possible, -why is not fear, apprehension and melancholy indicated? When the jaws -of the Venus Fly-Trap close on its hapless victim, they must do so with -a savage joy akin to that of a Tiger springing on its prey. - -There are those who relegate a certain amount of intelligence to plants -but deny them consciousness. They are unwilling to admit that plants -are aware of their own physical and mental processes. This would -seem to be the merest quibbling over terms and an entrance into that -metaphysics which does away with all consciousness. - -If plants were not conscious, at least under stimulation, they would -have long since perished from the earth through inability to react to -new conditions. Francis Darwin says: “We must believe that in plants -exists a faint copy of what we know as consciousness in ourselves.” -Many scientists believe that life and consciousness always precede and -are superior to organization. It is urged that possibly many plants -possess consciousness without self-consciousness or introspection. - -After a thoughtful consideration of such facts as these, only the -blindest prejudice can continue to laugh at plant intelligence. Why -then has the world of human thought been so long and reluctant to -acknowledge it? Simply because it always reasons along authentic and -established lines. For many years it has been taught to associate -animal movement with special groups of cells called muscles and -intelligence with special groups of cells called nerve tissue. Failing -to find any trace of nerve tissue in plants, it ignores a hundred -convincing facts to the contrary, and declares that plant intelligence -is a myth. Failing to detect a _mechanism_ of sensibility, it denies -the existence of sensibility, even though in the little Mimosa the -sense of touch travels from leaf to leaf before our eyes. - -It must be realized that the animal brain merely acts as the electrical -motor for the life-power which drives the universe. This motor and all -of its auxiliaries are absent in Protozoa and other one-celled animals, -but the power is not. In the same way, they are absent throughout all -plantdom, but the eternal life principle manifests itself in many -mighty acts. - -What is a nervous system, anyhow? It is a group of cells, the -specialized function of which is to transmit impulses from one to -the other by certain obscure chemical reactions. Why cannot ordinary -tissue cells do the same thing, possibly in a feebler, less efficient -way? Plant cells are all joined together by fine connecting strands, -forming a “continuity of protoplasm” through which such impulses could -readily travel. Whether investigators agree to this or not, it is an -indisputable fact that it is true. - -Though science is now beginning to verify the fact of plant -intelligence most conclusively great and independent thinkers of all -times have long felt its truth. Certain minds are always in advance -of their age. While science laboriously proves every step of its way -with painstaking and commendable exactness, they are soaring far ahead -in new and fascinating fields. Sometimes they go astray, but quite as -frequently they are the pioneers of great and progressive ideas. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV - -THE HIGHER LIFE OF PLANTS - - “_I swear I think now that everything, without exception, - has an immortal soul! - The trees have, rooted in the ground! the weeds of the sea - have! the animals! - I swear I think there is nothing but immortality!_” - - --_Walt Whitman_ - - -Maurice Maeterlinck, in one of his delightful essays, pays a remarkable -tribute to the spiritual powers of plants. - -“Though there be plants and flowers that are awkward or unlovely,” he -says, “there is none that is wholly devoid of wisdom and ingenuity. All -exert themselves to accomplish their work, all have the magnificent -ambition to overrun and conquer the surface of the globe by endlessly -multiplying the form of existence which they represent. To attain this -object, they have, because of the law which chains them to the soil, to -overcome difficulties much greater than those opposed to the increase -of animals.... If we had applied to the removal of the various -vicissitudes which crush us, such as pain, old age, and death, one-half -the energy displayed by any little flower in our gardens, we may well -believe that our lot would be very different from what it is.” - -No truer thought was ever set on paper. Though man prides himself upon -his imagined superiority to non-human creation, and even denies the -capacity for the higher things of life to animals and plants, he, in -reality, nearly always shows himself vastly inferior to them in actual -applications of moral and spiritual principles. - -Have the plants souls and spirits? No man who has carefully and -conscientiously studied them can wholly deny it. They exhibit a pluck, -a determination, a moral perseverance which awaken all our admiration. -Where we are weak, they are strong. Where men would lie down and die, -they go steadily forward. When a plant perishes in the struggle for -existence, it is because the odds have been too great. To make the most -of heredity and environment is an axiomatic rule in plantdom. - -Man’s mind has developed at the expense of man’s body. The plants -always maintain an admirable balance between the two. There are -degenerates and unscrupulous individuals among them, but they never -forget that their first duty is to themselves. Self-culture is with -them a passion. Whoever heard of a plant over-eating or over-drinking -or giving way to any of those indulgent vices which are the bane of the -human world? They have their faults, but they are sources of strength -rather than weakness. - -In relation to its companions of the vegetable realm, the Murderer -Liana is a double-dyed villain, yet it is only practicing in an open -and frank way, the food-getting methods, which all life, by its very -nature, is forced to adopt. To live by the destruction of others is the -sad lot of both the smallest plant and the most highly developed animal. - -Aside from the peculiarly human susceptibility to self-indulgence, it -is hard to find a single spiritual trait not exhibited by some member -of the plant kingdom. - -Love? There is no higher devotion than that shown by the water plant -called Vallisneria. The female flowers reach the surface of the water -at the end of long, tapering, spiral-like stalks, but the males are -compelled to remain far down near the bottom. At the flowering season, -the males, responding to the universal mating instinct, deliberately -break themselves from their stalks and rise to the surface to be near -their loves for a little while. All too soon, however, they are carried -away by unruly currents to an untimely death, leaving behind them, in -their pollen, the principle from which another generation of their -species shall arise. They have presented themselves a living sacrifice -on the altar of love. - -Courage? Think of all the hardy trees which dwell in the high and cold -places of the earth--places that are so exposed and desolate that the -trees and plants find it necessary to contract themselves into the -smallest possible compass, often living largely underground. On the -other hand, think of the death-defying Cacti which live in infernos of -the desert heat and dryness and yet put forth flowers of joy. - -Faith? Hope? What sustains the perennials through long, bleak winters -and makes them sure of the promise of spring? When the Alpine flowers -are so positive that spring has really come that they push their -inquiring heads up through the snow which still covers the mountains, -they are showing a superhuman faith, literally risking death in order -that they may get a strong and early start in life. - -Charity? When trees like the Oak and the Maple allow a whole multitude -of lesser plants to dwell in the snugness of their shadows, they are -showing forth some of the kindly qualities of plantdom. If they chose -to they could discourage lowly neighbours after the manner of the -monopolistic Beech or the aristocratic Pine. - -Name a human sin or virtue, good quality or bad, and one does not -have to search far in the plant world for its counterpart. Along with -kindness, mercy, gratitude, submissiveness, and parental love we also -find cruelty, hard-heartedness, ingratitude, arrogance and neglect -of offspring. Even at that, the credit side always exceeds the debit -and no plant is guilty of self-destruction. It must be borne in mind, -that what we call sin and malignity are to them legitimate courses of -action. - -If plants have every property of the human soul, why have men been so -slow to admit their kinship with the trees and the flowers? Life, law -and love are divine and bind man to all creation. He is spiritually -as well as physically related to the plants. In the past, he has -endeavoured to set himself apart from Nature and look down upon her -as upon another world. Because he has a brain, he has imagined that -anything which has none cannot possibly possess an intelligence and an -inner life. To uphold this theory he has shut his eyes to a thousand -denying facts. - -All plants and animals of whatever kind begin life on exactly the same -level. The wayside Daisy and the Human Being both start their earthly -careers as single cells. In both cases, there is no visible machinery -of life and consciousness, yet we can say “Here is a potential Daisy. -Here is a potential Man.” The wonderful, all-pervading spirit of life -belongs to both. - -The language of the Bible classifies man with all life under the Hebrew -term _Nephesh chayiah_, that is, living soul or creature. The Old -Testament favours a rigorous protection of animals and plants against -wanton destruction. Is not the equality of the three kingdoms of life -hinted at in the following passage from Jonah? - -“Thou hast had pity on the Gourd, for the which thou hast not laboured, -neither madest it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a -night.” - -“And I shall not spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than -six score thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand -and their left hand and also much cattle.” - -Some marvelous experiments carried on by Sir Jaghadish Chaundra Bose in -Calcutta, India, offer interesting light on the higher life of plants. -By exceptionally delicate and ingenious instruments, Sir Jaghadish has -been able to measure the plant movements associated with growth, shock -and response to stimuli in general. He has come to the conclusion that -plants not only have a conscious intelligence, but have their good and -bad days, their moods, their whims. He believes they react to slight or -pleasurable stimuli by general expansion. Violent stimuli cause pain -and contraction. A plant struck a blow quivers and shakes in veritable -agony. Plants about to die undergo a violent spasm and then by making -no response at all to outside influences, show that they have actually -given up the ghost. - -Sir Jaghadish is satisfied that a plant pulled up by the roots -experiences a shock comparable to that of a man being beaten into -insensibility. Many trees and plants, as every gardener knows, fail to -survive transplanting and die from pure shock, even if their tissue has -been in no way injured. Sir Jaghadish has performed the interesting -experiment of administering a powerful chemical to act as an anesthetic -to trees about to be transplanted. Such specimens have stood the -re-location well but in some cases have shown an apparent loss of -memory and a general state of upset habit, exactly as would a man or -animal coming out of a stupor. - -All this strongly suggests a soul or driving spiritual force in every -living creature. Regarding its exact nature there are many opinions. -Maeterlinck believes that there is a general scattered intelligence, a -sort of universal fluid, which penetrates all organisms in an amount -proportionate to their conductivity. Man offers the least resistance -to the divine principle and so receives a generous share. The plants -receive lesser amounts, but really belong to the same intellectual -order. They exhibit the same ideas, the same hopes, the same logic -and undergo the same trials in a lesser degree than their more -educated brothers. The plants and man both grope, hesitate and correct -themselves in their labourious evolutionary development. - -Of course, this theory is only a conjecture, but is very appealing and -much more modest than the traditional attitude which assumes that man -is a miraculous and marvelously endowed being fallen from another world -and therefore lacking any definite ties with the rest of terrestrial -life. - -If then we believe that a vital spiritual force dwells within every -plant, what becomes of it after the death of its enclosing walls? Each -cell of a tree in effect dies many times each season. Continual waste -and renovation bring periodic transformation of cell structure. The -abode is changed but not the inhabitant. There must be an animating, -non-physical force which carries on the cycle. If it is superior to -the forces of bodily dissolution, must it not also be infinite, -immortal? - -With so many modern people doubting (or pretending to doubt) the -immortality of man, it may seem presumptuous to claim immortality for -the plants, yet that is the unescapable conclusion to which the writers -of this book are driven. All life is one, indivisible and inseparable. -There is a divine spark in every living creature and it is reasonable -to expect it to live beyond death. Immortality by reproduction is not -enough. If it were true that the eternal principle continually passes -from parent to offspring, and that when the parent dies, he is dead -spiritually as well as physically, then we should expect immediate -degeneracy and death after reproduction takes place. That a portion -of soul essence descends through countless generations we do not -doubt, but each plant and animal is also a spiritual entity. Man and -plants are both tools in the hands of Maeterlinck’s all-prevailing -intelligence. Yet man feels that he is a free agent. Why not the plants -also? - -Every plant has racial and family traits, and each one also has a -marked personality. If immortality is a fulfilling, a conserving -continuance of the present earthly existence, then the plants deserve -and have a right to expect a chance for infinite development. - -The plants serve to make this earth a floral paradise. Why should they -not be equally necessary in a world of spirit? It is to man’s credit -that he has always pictured heaven as a place made beautiful by great -hosts of trees and flowers. - - - - -CHAPTER XV - -PLANTS AND MEN - - “_Our human souls - Cling to the grass and water brooks._” - - --_Athanase_ - - -The average city man gives little thought or attention to his vegetable -neighbours, yet their continued existence is quite as vital to him as -the air he breathes. Directly or indirectly he is utterly dependent -upon them. - -Every time he sits down to a dinner table, he is paying an unconscious -tribute to the food-producing abilities of plantdom. In a general -way, plants are the world’s food producers and the animals are the -consumers. Plants are able to build up living tissue from inorganic -material. Animals must prey upon that elaborated structure to keep -themselves alive. Plants separate oxygen from carbon dioxide and water, -thereby storing up sunshine as potential energy. Animals reverse the -process, and, re-combining oxygen with the plant tissue, liberate -heat and power. In a desert region, animals soon perish, because even -carnivorous species live on herbivorous fellows which in turn are -eaters of plants. This is why the distribution of men and animals is so -greatly influenced by that of plants. - -For clothing man depends partly upon such plant-products as Cotton and -Flax and partly on plant-fed animals which yield him silk, wool and -leather. The great plant structures of the forest give him the chief -materials which go into the construction of his ships and houses, with -all their appurtenances. The bodies of plants, recently alive or the -bodies of plants long since dead furnish fuel for cooking, heating and -power. Drugs are very largely of vegetable origin. In brief, the plants -feed, clothe, shelter, and warm mankind. - -Man has made many plants his servants. His first attention was -naturally given to such species as he could use for food. Two thousand -years ago, the ancients were growing practically all the food plants -that are known today. Maize, Potatoes, Rice, Beans, Dates and Bananas -have been cultivated for an even longer period. Fodder plants, -calculated to furnish food for man’s domestic animals, were the next to -receive attention, and following those, medical plants, edible fruits, -garden vegetables and aromatic leaves and seeds, such as Tea and -Coffee, came to the fore. - -When we consider that plants display superior powers in so many -directions and, as F. L. Sargent says, “do to perfection so many -things we cannot do at all,” it is really remarkable that man has -so completely subjected them to his will. Because of their static -condition, they are quite helpless in his hands. He levels their -grandest forests and burns their widest prairies. Certain plants he -makes his pets, fighting their enemies and nurturing them in the most -careful way. The tender Wheat would never be able to occupy the vast -stretches it does through its own strength. Under man’s guidance and -protection, its volume is increased a thousand fold. - -The vast changes which human efforts make in the surface of the earth -have a correspondingly important effect on vegetation. Every time a -tract of woods is cut down, every time a lake is drained, every time a -field is plowed--whenever any alteration is made in the landscape--the -vegetation is affected. Sometimes this disturbance of the natural order -of things becomes a serious menace, as in the case of deforestation. -The welfare of the world is bound up with the welfare of the plants. - -About a hundred years ago, a certain section of forest in France was -levelled. It contained Oak, Beech, and Ash. The new trees to spring -up were Birch and Poplar. After thirty years they too were felled -and young shoots of the same species immediately came up, with a few -descendants of the original growth reappearing. It was not until the -third clearing or ninety years after the original cutting that the Oaks -and Beeches began to regain their lost prestige. This is a good example -of the effect that human operations have on the plant world. Wholesale -cuttings tend to change the chemical composition of the soil by -withdrawing certain elements, thereby causing other species to flourish -which do not need this material. - -When it comes to plants grown in nurseries and conservatories, -gardeners are often able to make almost unbelievable changes in floral -and vegetable form and structure. There has been much experimentation -of recent years in connection with the effect of light, both natural -and artificial, on plant processes. In general, it has been established -that it is just as injurious for a plant to have too much light as -too little. Steady exposure to light makes for accelerated growth of -tissue. Lessening light speeds up flowering and reproduction. Control -over a plant’s light supply therefore means that the manipulator -can produce at will either large, luxuriantly foliaged plants which -flower late, or from the same seed develop small specimens blooming -exceptionally early. - -Man is not content with merely controlling the external conditions -which affect vegetation but often steps into their internal processes -and moulds their life-forces at their very fountainhead. By the simple -methods of selection and cross-breeding, he is able to work miracles -with the laws of heredity, and bridge in a few years gaps which a plant -would have taken centuries to span by ordinary evolutionary processes. - -Luther Burbank is the modern garden wizard who has attained the -greatest distinction in this field. He says: “There is no barrier to -obtaining fruits of any size, form or flavour desired, and none to -producing plants and flowers of any form, colour or fragrance; all that -is needed is a knowledge to guide our efforts in the right direction, -undeviating patience and cultivated eyes to detect variations of value.” - -Burbank has many times shown that he has the knowledge, patience and -cultivated eye in a superlative degree. He claims to only apply old -methods in a new way, but his results have been phenomenal. In fruits -he has produced many new varieties of Apples, Pears, Peaches, Apricots, -Plums, Prunes, Cherries and Quinces. His Plumcot is a delicious cross -between a Plum and an Apricot. Out of the Dewberry and a Siberian -Raspberry he compounded what he calls the Primus Berry. A Dewberry plus -a Cuthbert Raspberry equals a Phenomenal Berry. One Lawton Blackberry -and one Crystal White Blackberry make one Paradox Berry. - -Among the Burbank floral creations the Shasta Daisy is notable. -It combines strains from Europe, Japan, and America. A new giant -Amaryllis has twelve-inch blossoms. The Tigridias is spectacular, the -blue Poppies are odd and there are many extraordinary Lilies. - -The substitute for Grass developed by the California naturalist thrives -through the most severe drought and so is of practical economic value. -His improved Walnut Trees grow to a large size in a few years and his -Chestnuts bear abundant crops when they are mere bushes. Spineless -Cactus is a very valuable creation. - -All these results are obtained in what seems to be a very simple -way, yet their successful outcome is only made possible by the -mind of genius working with infinite patience over long periods of -years. To select out of a group of plants a few individuals which -show exceptional quality of a desirable type; to save the seed of -these favoured few and make further selections among their progeny; -to couple with this the cross-pollenizing of different varieties or -species showing a tendency to greater variation or accentuation of -characteristics--all this may seem only high grade garden practice, -but only one man in two or three generations has the exceptional and -sympathetic perceptive faculties which enable him to attain really -striking results. - -On his experimental farms near Santa Rosa, California, Luther Burbank -has made many thousand distinct experiments involving a wide range of -plant species. It is said that at times he has had as many as three -thousand tests, calling for observations on a million plants and -flowers, under way at once. Probably no similar area of the earth’s -surface has grown such a variety of vegetable products or had such -infinite care lavished upon it. - -These are the practical aspects of the relations of plants to men. On -the esthetic and pleasurable side they are equally important. - -The love of plants and flowers is a universal sentiment slumbering in -the most prosaic breast. Plants are a perpetual source of joy. They are -friends which never change. In youth, they give zest to our outdoor -pleasures. In age, they bespeak the happiness of days gone by. In -death, they strew our last resting place with fragrance. At all times, -they stand for purity, beauty and peace. - - -THE END - - - - -INDEX - - - Acacia, 125 - - Acanthus, 103 - - Agave, 67 - - Aglaia, 139 - - Air Plants, 41 - - Alder, 25, 41, 99 - - Alfalfa, 56 - - Algae, 18, 19, 22, 24, 44, 60, 127 - - Almond, 56, 103, 182 - - Aloe, 93 - - Amaryllis, 221 - - Ampelopsis, 108 - - Anacharis, 49 - - Anemone, 97, 144 - - Antirrhinum, 75 - - Ant Nest Plant, 72 - - Apple, 61, 82, 220 - - Apricot, 51, 56, 220 - - Arrowhead, 47, 92 - - Arum, 146 - - Ash, 46, 218 - - Aspen, 181 - - Asphodel, 145 - - Aster, 97, 100, 103 - - Asterophyllites, 24 - - Azalia, 79, 97 - - - Bacteria, 31, 55, 66, 135, 139, 190 - - Balm of Gilead, 150 - - Balsam, 181 - - Balsam Poplar, 78 - - Bamboo, 26, 56, 103, 121 - - Banana, 124, 126 - - Banibusa, 139 - - Barberry, 105, 126 - - Barley, 26 - - Barrel Cactus, 67 - - Basil, 151 - - Bean, 29, 35, 51, 66, 91, 116, 125, 164, 216 - - Beech, 62, 139, 208, 218 - - Beech Drops, 62 - - Beet, 37, 132 - - Begonia, 93, 98 - - Belladonna, 152, 158 - - Birch, 25, 41, 42, 78, 218 - - Birth-Wort, 76 - - Blackberry, 42, 158 - - Black-eyed Susan, 97 - - Bladderwort, 46, 131 - - Brambles, 192 - - Broom-Rape, 62 - - Butter-and-Eggs, 50 - - Buttercup, 37, 92, 96, 103 - - Butternut, 47 - - Butter-Wort, 75 - - - Cabbage, 105 - - Cactus, 34, 66, 98, 132, 207, 221 - - Calamites, 24 - - Calceolarias, 97 - - Camellia, 97 - - Cardoon Artichoke, 49 - - Carrion Flower, 88 - - Carrot, 37, 109, 132 - - Castor Oil Tree, 41 - - Catalpa, 116 - - Cat-Tail, 116 - - Cecropia, 73, 81 - - Cedar, 116 - - Cherry, 51, 56, 72, 103, 175, 220 - - Chestnut, 42, 221 - - Chickweed, 171 - - Cinerarias, 97 - - Clover, 66, 165 - - Club-Mosses, 24 - - Cobaea Scandens, 79 - - Cockle-bur, 48 - - Cocoanut, 45 - - Coffee, 51, 52, 217 - - Compass-Plant, 172 - - Conifers, 25, 42 - - Corn, 116, 168 - - Cotton, 216 - - Cottonwood, 115 - - Cow Horn Orchid, 71 - - Cowslip, 78, 162 - - Cranesbill, 98 - - Crocus, 37, 108, 145 - - Cuckoo-Pint, 66, 88 - - Cucumber, 51, 82 - - Currant, 175 - - Cyclamen, 161 - - Cypress, 25, 175, 182 - - - Daffodil, 37 - - Daisy, 104, 162, 220 - - Dandelion, 45, 47, 79, 102, 162, 171, 175 - - Date, 82, 216 - - Date Palm, 35 - - Datura, 171 - - Day-Lily, 171 - - Delphinium, 97 - - Devil’s Snuff Box, 159 - - Devil’s Thread, 62 - - Dewberry, 220 - - Diatoms, 127 - - Dodder, 58, 62 - - Duckweed, 46 - - Dutch Clover, 165 - - Dutchman’s Pipe, 106 - - - Elder, 152, 159 - - Elm, 25, 26, 42, 46, 115 - - Enchanter’s Nightshade, 151 - - Epiphytes, 64, 72 - - Eryptogams, 24 - - - Ferns, 22, 41, 43, 44, 190 - - Feterita, 56 - - Figwort, 87 - - Fir, 103 - - Fire Weed, 47 - - Flagellates, 18 - - Flax, 63, 216 - - Four-leaved Clover, 162, 165, 175 - - Fox Glove, 160, 161 - - Fuchsia, 79, 93 - - Fungus, 22, 34, 48, 58, 60, 62, 139 - - - Gas Plant, 135 - - Gentian, 97 - - Giant Cactus, 67 - - Goat’s Beard, 171 - - Goldenrod, 184 - - Gorse, 86, 97 - - Gossamer, 161 - - Gourd, 210 - - Grape, 67, 104 - - Grass, 36, 41 - - Grass of Parnassus, 193 - - Groundsel, 146 - - - Harebell, 161 - - Hawkweed, 80 - - Hawkweed Picris, 171 - - Hawthorn, 104 - - Hazel, 36, 78 - - Heliotrope, 181 - - Hemlock, 160 - - Hemp, 62 - - Henna, 151 - - Herban, 158 - - Herb-Bennett, 159 - - Herb-Paris, 160 - - Hollyhock, 79, 97 - - Hop, 35 - - Horse Chestnut, 104 - - Hortensia, 137 - - Hyacinth, 37, 97, 108, 192 - - - Ice-Plant, 171 - - Imba-uba Tree, 73 - - Indian Licorice, 170 - - Indian Pipe, 61 - - Indigo, 93 - - Iris, 92, 103, 192 - - Ivy, 103 - - Ivy-Geranium, 108 - - - Jessamine, 97, 175 - - Job’s Tears, 157 - - Junger Mania, 127 - - - Lantana, 53, 54 - - Laurel, 26, 88, 97, 105, 159, 175, 182 - - Leek, 165, 184 - - Legumes, 26, 31 - - Lepidodendrons, 24 - - Lettuce, 99, 158 - - Lichen, 22, 42, 48, 60 - - Lilac, 34, 97 - - Lily, 79, 97, 103, 145, 149, 156, 175, 181, 221 - - Lime, 78 - - Linden, 26, 46 - - Liverwort, 19, 20, 21, 22 - - Lomatophylos, 24 - - Loosestrife, 77 - - Lotus, 103, 124, 144, 147 - - Love in the Mist, 193 - - Lucerne, 51, 93 - - Luck Flower, 160 - - Luminous Peridineas, 139 - - Lupine, 86 - - Lycoperdon, 159 - - - Magnolia, 26, 99 - - Maiden-Hair Fern, 145 - - Maize, 26, 35, 51, 216 - - Mandrake, 179 - - Mani Blight, 55 - - Manioc, 26 - - Maple, 26, 47, 101, 103, 208 - - Mares’ Tails, 24 - - Marigold, 125, 162, 171 - - Melastroma Plant, 73 - - Melon, 82 - - Mermidones, 73 - - Mexican Grape, 66 - - Mildew, 61 - - Milkweed, 102 - - Mimosa, 122, 121 - - Mistletoe, 47, 65, 147 - - Molluka, 146 - - Monotropa, 61 - - Monstera, 191 - - Moonflower, 171 - - Moon-Plant, 151 - - Moonwart, 160 - - Morning Glory, 49, 128 - - Moss, 20, 21, 22, 42, 48, 190 - - Mountain Laurel, 88 - - Mulberry, 51 - - Mullein, 75, 101 - - Murderer Liana, 206 - - Myrtle, 182 - - Myxomycetes, 194 - - - Naked Stalked Poppy, 171 - - Narcissus, 108, 145, 148 - - Nasturtium, 80, 108 - - Navel Orange, 56 - - Nephelium, 139 - - Nettle, 35, 76 - - Night-Blooming Cereus, 171 - - Night-Shade, 159 - - Nostoc, 22 - - - Oak, 25, 42, 103, 139, 208, 218 - - Olive, 103, 175, 182 - - Onion, 156, 163, 164 - - Opuntia, 197 - - Orange, 56 - - Orchid, 60, 64, 74, 89, 97, 102, 126, 144, 146, 147 - - Oscillating Sainfoin, 126 - - Oxalis, 36, 116, 125 - - - Palm, 25, 26, 41, 94, 100, 103, 105, 175, 182 - - Pansy, 108, 175 - - Papyrus, 103 - - Paradox Berry, 220 - - Parnassia, 127 - - Parsley, 164 - - Passion Flower, 76, 101, 103, 145, 197 - - Pea, 26, 51, 105, 163 - - Peach, 51, 61, 220 - - Pear, 51, 61, 220 - - Pelargoniums, 97 - - Peony, 97, 103 - - Persimmon, 26 - - Phenomenal Berry, 220 - - Pigweed, 49 - - Pimpernel, 160, 169 - - Pine, 26, 111, 114, 208 - - Pink, 145 - - Pistachio, 82 - - Plane, 26 - - Plum, 175, 220 - - Plumcot, 220 - - Poa Annua, 40 - - Polyanthus, 79 - - Polygalas, 93 - - Polygonums Tree, 73 - - Pomegranate, 103, 104, 151 - - Pond Lily, 91 - - Pond Weeds, 83 - - Poplar, 98, 99, 218 - - Poppy, 86, 97, 100, 144, 156, 181, 221 - - Potato, 26, 37, 55, 157, 216 - - Potentillas, 192 - - Prickly Pear, 67, 197 - - Primrose, 37, 79, 86, 174, 192 - - Privet, 105 - - Protozoa, 12 - - Prune, 220 - - Psilophyton, 24 - - Puff-Ball, 159 - - Purple Orchid, 146 - - - Quince, 220 - - - Rafflesia Arnoldi, 64 - - Ragwort, 160 - - Raspberry, 220 - - Rattlesnake Iris, 116 - - Red Anemone, 146 - - Redwood, 26, 101 - - Rhododendron, 79, 97, 99 - - Rice, 26, 216 - - Rock-Lichens, 75 - - Rose, 86, 95, 97, 98, 100, 103, 104, 145, 150, 156, 163, 175, 182, 184 - - Rose of Jericho, 146 - - Rose-blight, 61 - - Rosemary, 181 - - Rue, 159 - - - Saffron, 51 - - Sage, 87, 116 - - Sainfoin, 126, 146 - - Scarlet Runner, 91 - - Sea Holly, 98 - - Sea Poppy, 160 - - Sensitive Plant, 130 - - Sequoia, 26 - - Service Tree, 191 - - Shamrock, 165, 184 - - Shasta Daisy, 220 - - Siberian Raspberry, 220 - - Sigillarias, 24 - - Silene, 78 - - Silver Fir, 26 - - Smilax, 116 - - Snowberry, 105 - - Snowdrop, 37, 182 - - Soma, 151 - - Sow-Thistle, 158, 171 - - Spanish Moss, 65 - - Spinach, 51 - - Spineless Cactus, 221 - - Spotted Persicaria, 146 - - Spruce, 26 - - Squash, 168 - - Squirting Cucumber, 116 - - Stapelia, 87 - - Star-Flower, 163 - - Stinging Nettle, 75 - - Strawberry, 146 - - String Bean, 105 - - St. John’s Wort, 150, 161 - - Sudan Grass, 56 - - Sugar Cane, 51, 116 - - Sundew 193, 197 - - Sunflower, 116, 128 - - Sweet Gum, 102 - - Sweet Pea, 80, 108 - - Sweet Potato, 109 - - Sycamore, 47, 78, 131 - - - Tea, 217 - - Thistle, 47, 49, 159, 165, 175, 184 - - Thorn-Apple, 104 - - Thyme, 146 - - Tigridias, 221 - - Toadstool, 158, 162 - - Tobacco, 26, 62 - - Tococa, 73 - - Touch-me-not, 48, 181 - - Tree-ferns, 24 - - Trefoil, 86, 103, 165 - - Trumpet Vine, 97 - - Tulip, 37, 97, 104, 162 - - Tumble Weed, 46 - - Turmeric, 157 - - Turnip, 37, 132 - - - Vallisneria, 206 - - Venus Fly-Trap, 130, 198, 200 - - Verbena, 97, 150 - - Veronica, 125 - - Vervain, 159, 160 - - Vetch, 66, 72 - - Victoria Regia, 91, 118 - - Violet, 36, 93, 100, 144, 181 - - - Walnut, 42, 47, 51, 221 - - Water Chestnut, 92 - - Water Hyacinth, 52 - - Water Lily, 86, 118, 133 - - Watermelon, 51 - - Weather-Plant, 170 - - Weeping Willow, 100 - - Wheat, 26, 51, 56, 116, 217 - - Wheat-Rust, 61 - - Wild Anemone, 181 - - Willow, 42, 46, 99, 100, 115, 145 - - Wistaria, 48, 95, 97, 103, 108, 128, 176 - - Witch Hazel, 116 - - Wolffias, 46 - - Wood-Anemone, 162 - - Woodroof, 146 - - Wood-Sorrel, 146, 161, 165 - - Wormwood, 151 - - - Xanthium Spinosum, 37 - - - Yam, 26 - - Yellow Narcissus, 148 - - Yew, 160 - - Yucca, 90 - - - Zoochlorella, 61 - - Zooxanthella, 61 - - - - -Transcriber’s Notes - -Page 14: “in the consciouness” changed to “in the consciousness” - -Page 24: “trees called Calamities” changed to “trees called Calamites” - -Page 25: “many excellent speciments” changed to “many excellent -specimens” - -Page 26 and Index: “Manico” changed to “Manioc” - -Page 29: “herbacious annual” changed to “herbaceous annual” - -Page 42: “Chesnut and Elm” changed to “Chestnut and Elm” - -Page 51: “Cucumber, Lucern” changed to “Cucumber, Lucerne” - -Page 55: “propogation purposes” changed to “propagation purposes”; -“objectional” changed to “objectionable” - -Page 62: “Prominate among” changed to “Prominent among” - -Page 64: “Rafflessia Arnoldi” changed to “Rafflesia Arnoldi” - -Page 78: “under the miscrope” changed to “under the microscope” “devoid -of proturberances” changed to “devoid of protuberances” - -Page 79: “Azalias, and Fuchias” changed to “Azalias, and Fuchsias” - -Page 97: “Pelargoiums” changed to “Pelargoniums” - -Page 121: “_Sumatratran_ species” changed to “_Sumatran_ species” - -Page 125: “quite inconspicous” changed to “quite inconspicuous” - -Page 131 & 189: “carniverous plants” changed to “carnivorous plants” - -Page 132: “have aquired” changed to “have acquired” - -Page 148: “Whoever posseses” changed to “Whoever possesses” - -Page 152: “The Belladona” changed to “The Belladonna” - -Page 157: “Tumeric” changed to “Turmeric” - -Page 171: “marvelous aquaintance” changed to “marvelous acquaintance” - -Page 174: “Primose Schlüsselblume” changed to “Primrose Schlüsselblume” - -Page 175: “Olives, Jasamines” changed to “Olives, Jessamines” - -Page 190: “seed-animalicules” changed to “seed-animalcules” - -Page 202: “in Protoza” changed to “in Protozoa” - -Page 206: “giving away” changed to “giving way” “villian” changed to -“villain” - -Page 208: “aristrocatic Pine” changed to “aristocratic Pine” - -Page 221: “is suectacular” changed to “is spectacular” - -The Table of Contents in the original was missing the chapter on -Science in the Plant World, which has been added. 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Fitch—A Project Gutenberg eBook - </title> - <link rel="icon" href="images/cover.jpg" type="image/x-cover" /> - <style> /* <![CDATA[ */ - -body { - margin-left: 10%; - margin-right: 10%; -} - - h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { - text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ - clear: both; -} - -p { - margin-top: .51em; - text-align: justify; - margin-bottom: .49em; - text-indent: 1em; -} - -.p2 {margin-top: 2em;} -.p4 {margin-top: 4em;} - -abbr[title] { - text-decoration: none; -} - -hr { - width: 33%; - margin-top: 2em; - margin-bottom: 2em; - margin-left: 33.5%; - margin-right: 33.5%; - clear: both; -} - -hr.chap {width: 65%; margin-left: 17.5%; margin-right: 17.5%;} -@media print { hr.chap {display: none; visibility: hidden;} } - -div.chapter {page-break-before: always;} -h2.nobreak {page-break-before: avoid;} - -ul.index { list-style-type: none; margin-top: 2em;} -li.ifrst { - margin-top: 1em; - text-indent: -2em; - padding-left: 1em; -} - -table { - margin-left: auto; - margin-right: auto; -} -table.autotable { border-collapse: collapse; width: 60%;} -table.autotable td, -table.autotable th { padding: 4px; } -.x-ebookmaker table {width: 95%;} - -.tdl {text-align: left;} -.tdr {text-align: right;} -.page {width: 3em;} - -.pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ - /* visibility: hidden; */ - position: absolute; - left: 92%; - font-size: smaller; - text-align: right; - font-style: normal; - font-weight: normal; - font-variant: normal; -} /* page numbers */ - -.bbox {border: 4px double; width: 80%; margin-left: 10%;} - -.center {text-align: center; text-indent: 0em;} - -.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} - -.u {text-decoration: underline;} - -.caption {font-weight: bold;} - -/* Images */ - -img { - max-width: 100%; - height: auto; -} -img.w75 {width: 75%;} -.x-ebookmaker .w75 {width: 95%;} -img.w50 {width: 50%;} -.x-ebookmaker .w50 {width: 75%;} -img.w10 {width: 10%;} -.x-ebookmaker .w10 {width: 15%;} - -.figcenter { - margin: auto; - text-align: center; - page-break-inside: avoid; - max-width: 100%; -} - -/* Poetry */ -.poetry {text-align: left; margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 5%; text-indent: 0em;} -/* uncomment the next line for centered poetry in browsers */ -/* .poetry {display: inline-block;} */ -/* large inline blocks don't split well on paged devices */ -@media print { .poetry {display: block;} } -.x-ebookmaker .poetry {display: block;} - -/* Transcriber's notes */ -.transnote {background-color: #E6E6FA; - color: black; - font-size:smaller; - padding:0.5em; - margin-bottom:5em; - font-family:sans-serif, serif; } - -.xbig {font-size: 2em;} -.big {font-size: 1.2em;} -.small {font-size: 0.8em;} - -.ml {margin-left: 18%;} - /* ]]> */ </style> -</head> -<body> -<p style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Personality of plants, by Royal Dixon</p> -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online -at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> - -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: Personality of plants</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Authors: Royal Dixon</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em;'>Franklyn E. Fitch</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: June 4, 2022 [eBook #68239]</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</p> - <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; text-align:left'>Produced by: The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)</p> -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PERSONALITY OF PLANTS ***</div> - - - - - -<h1><span class="u">PERSONALITY OF PLANTS</span></h1> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img001"> - <img src="images/001.jpg" class="w50" alt="The Fuchsia has a Distinctive and Esthetic Manner." /> -</span></p> -<p class="center caption">The Fuchsia has a Distinctive and Esthetic Manner.<br /></p> - -</div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter bbox"> - -<p class="center xbig"> PERSONALITY<br /> - OF PLANTS</p> - -<p class="center p2"> <i>By</i> <span class="big">ROYAL DIXON</span> <i>and</i><br /> - <span class="big">FRANKLYN E. FITCH</span></p> - -<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img002"> - <img src="images/002.jpg" class="w10" alt="Publisher mark" /> -</span></p> - -<p class="center p4"> New York<br /> - <span class="big">BOULLION-BIGGS<br /> - 1923</span> -</p></div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> - - - -<p class="center p2 small"> Copyright, 1923, by<br /> - <span class="smcap">Boullion-Biggs</span>, <abbr title="incorporated">Inc.</abbr></p> - -<p class="center"> <i>All Rights Reserved</i></p> - - -<p class="center p4 small"> PRINTED IN U. S. A. -</p> -</div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CONTENTS">CONTENTS</h2> -</div> - -<table class="autotable"> -<tr> -<th colspan="2" class="tdr page"> -Page -</th> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"> -<a href="#INTRODUCTION"><span class="smcap">Introduction</span></a> -</td> -<td class="tdr page"> -<a href="#Page_11">11</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"> -<a href="#CHAPTER_I"><span class="smcap">Origin of Plants</span></a> -</td> -<td class="tdr page"> -<a href="#Page_17">17</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"> -<a href="#CHAPTER_II"><span class="smcap">Life of a Plant</span></a> -</td> -<td class="tdr page"> -<a href="#Page_27">27</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"> -<a href="#CHAPTER_III"><span class="smcap">Migrations of Plants</span></a> -</td> -<td class="tdr page"> -<a href="#Page_39">39</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"> -<a href="#CHAPTER_IV"><span class="smcap">Comrades of the Plant World</span></a> -</td> -<td class="tdr page"> -<a href="#Page_57">57</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"> -<a href="#CHAPTER_V"><span class="smcap">Allies of the Plant World</span></a> -</td> -<td class="tdr page"> -<a href="#Page_69">69</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"> -<a href="#CHAPTER_VI"><span class="smcap">Marriage Customs of Plants</span></a> -</td> -<td class="tdr page"> -<a href="#Page_83">83</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"> -<a href="#CHAPTER_VII"><span class="smcap">Art in the Plant World</span></a> -</td> -<td class="tdr page"> -<a href="#Page_95">95</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"> -<a href="#CHAPTER_VIII"><span class="smcap">Music in the Plant World</span></a> -</td> -<td class="tdr page"> -<a href="#Page_110">110</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"> -<a href="#CHAPTER_IX"><span class="smcap">Science in the Plant World</span></a> -</td> -<td class="tdr page"> -<a href="#Page_122">122</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"> -<a href="#CHAPTER_X"><span class="smcap">Religion in the Plant World</span></a> -</td> -<td class="tdr page"> -<a href="#Page_141">141</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"> -<a href="#CHAPTER_XI"><span class="smcap">Plant Mythology</span></a> -</td> -<td class="tdr page"> -<a href="#Page_154">154</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"> -<a href="#CHAPTER_XII"><span class="smcap">Mysticism in the Plant World</span></a> -</td> -<td class="tdr page"> -<a href="#Page_167">167</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"> -<a href="#CHAPTER_XIII"><span class="smcap">Plant Intelligence</span></a> -</td> -<td class="tdr page"> -<a href="#Page_186">186</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"> -<a href="#CHAPTER_XIV"><span class="smcap">The Higher Life of Plants</span></a> -</td> -<td class="tdr page"> -<a href="#Page_204">204</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"> -<a href="#CHAPTER_XV"><span class="smcap">Plants & Men</span></a> -</td> -<td class="tdr page"> -<a href="#Page_215">215</a> -</td></tr> -</table> - - - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<p class="center"> To</p> - -<p class="center"> EDWIN MARKHAM</p> - -<p class="center"> and</p> - -<p class="center"> ANNA CATHERINE MARKHAM</p> - -<p class="center"> who live their poetry. -</p> - - -</div> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> - - -<p class="poetry"> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">“That nothing walks with aimless feet;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That not one life shall be destroyed;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Or cast as rubbish to the void,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">When God hath made the pile complete;</span><br /> -<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">“That not one worm is cloven in vain;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That not a moth with vain desire</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Is shrivel’d in a fruitless fire,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Or but subserves another’s gain.”</span><br /> -</p> - -<p class="ml"> -—<i>Tennyson.</i><br /> -</p></div> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="INTRODUCTION">INTRODUCTION</h2> -</div> - - -<p>“The natural world, so to speak, is the raw material of the spiritual. -Therefore, ere man can understand the spiritual, he must understand the -natural,” writes Thomas Gentry.</p> - -<p>The authors of this book would go a step further and say that the -natural world <em>is</em> the spiritual. Soul and body, ephemeral and -material, on this plane of existence are ineffably bound together. -If you would climb to sublime heights of ghostly exaltation, study -first the grass at your feet. If you would unravel the mysteries of -the universe, desert the cloistered hearth for the wonders of woods -and meadows. Slow-thinking man will never understand the secret of his -own existence, until he thoroughly understands the plants outside his -window.</p> - -<p>For one to examine dead, withered specimens and hope to understand -Nature is as if a person should analyze hundreds of Egyptian mummies -in order to acquaint himself with the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</span> human race. You must seek the -flowers on their native heath and treat them as friends and equals. -Too often is the human creature inclined to look upon members of the -vegetable kingdom as things apart from the world of life—insensate -beings which can be cut down and trampled without offense—mere -“growths,” more akin to earth and stone than to himself.</p> - -<p>As a matter of fact, among the many forms of matter which exist on this -earth of ours, the only clear-cut division is between the organic and -the inorganic. The primary characteristic which distinguishes a living -creature from inanimate objects about it is, in the words of Arthur -Dendy, its power of “reacting toward its environment in such a manner -as to conduce to its own well-being; of controlling not only its own -behaviour but also the behaviour alike of its fellow creatures and of -inanimate objects, in its own interests, thereby maintaining its own -position in the universal struggle for existence.”</p> - -<p>If this, then, is the one characteristic which distinguishes all -terrestrial life, it follows that all creatures from the unicellular -protoza to man himself are intimately related, are all part and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</span> -parcel of the same system, are recognizable by differences in degree -but not in kind, and are all interesting manifestations of that -mysterious thing we call life. No creature lives or dies to itself. The -correlation of organisms in Nature is similiar to the correlation of -organs in individual plants and animals.</p> - -<p>If the reader will but face this fact, he will approach the study of -Nature with a new reverence. He will recognize the oneness and kinship -of all life.</p> - -<p>It is largely the object of this book to explore the inner recesses of -breathing and thinking plantdom—to take the reader beyond the limits -of text-book botany into regions of sympathetic insight—to show how -even human arts and sciences are unchangeably bound up with the lives -and hopes of the grasses and flowers.</p> - -<p>To do this comprehensively, it has been thought wise not only to -indicate how plants think and act but to incorporate a broad general -history of their race stretching back to their first appearance on -the planet and carried forward to the Burbank creations. With this -knowledge in hand, we are better equipped to approach<span class="pagenum" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</span> that fascinating -realm which touches on the intelligence, the spirituality, the -mysticism, the psychic phenomena, the higher life of plants.</p> - -<p>In all this, the manifest independence of plant life and purpose is -convincingly apparent. The plants have their own lives to lead and -their own evolutionary processes to carry on. They completed the -conquest of the earth long before the first human being appeared on its -surface. Out of approximately a hundred thousand species of flowering -plants, it has been estimated that only two hundred and forty-seven -render direct and important service to man, and of these, only about -fifty-four are utilized by him to any great extent.</p> - -<p>While today it is no longer the fashion to believe that plants were -created for man’s <em>sole</em> benefit, yet it cannot be denied that, -because of their physical limitations and inferior intelligence, the -plants frequently become very docile servants of the human race, -thereby thriving mightily and to their own great advantage. This is -as it should be. It is a law of earthly life. The danger lies in the -contempt which this servitude engenders in the consciousness of man, -the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</span> master. The plants are inferiors but very wonderful inferiors. We -should accord them the highest respect. We should accept our dominion -over them as a favour of a beneficent Providence,—a priceless gift -which it is criminal to squander or misuse.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I<br /><span class="small smcap">Origin of Plants</span></h2> -</div> - - -<p class="poetry"> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">“<i>’Tis a quaint thought, and yet perchance,</i></span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><i>Sweet blossoms, ye have sprung</i></span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>From flowers that over Eden once</i></span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><i>Their pristine fragrance flung.</i>”</span><br /> -</p> - - -<p>“In the beginning God created the heaven and earth. And the earth was -without form and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And -the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let -there be light: and there was light!”</p> - -<p>There is no greater mystery than the mystery of creation. Nowhere is -its story told more eloquently and more scientifically than in the -opening words of Genesis. All the fruitage of centuries of research but -reaffirms this ancient narrative.</p> - -<p>In the early days of this planet, when its crust was scarcely hardened -from the molten state, there reigned what might be called the age of -water. The entire surface of the globe was covered<span class="pagenum" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</span> with a sea of -restless, moving liquid, overcharged with a heavy atmosphere of vapour, -so dense that not a single ray of light could penetrate it. As the -process of cooling went on, more and more moisture condensed out of the -air, until finally the first ray of light reached the universal sea and -terrestrial day began.</p> - -<p>Here in this dim, watery world, about the time that the first land -began to emerge from the deep, by some divine, mysterious agency, the -first life was born.</p> - -<p>No doubt it was one-celled, free-moving, and like modern Flagellates, -partaking of the nature of both plant and animal.</p> - -<p>Slowly, and in response to evolutionary promptings, simple aquatic -plant forms began to develop from the primary single cells. Animal -life may have begun a simultaneous development, but if it did, it did -not become strong enough to make any impress on the geologic rock from -which we draw our data.</p> - -<p>Certainly the plants were in the ascendency. The mobile green Algae -were characteristic of the time. It is a remarkable thing that though -they are probably the progenitors of all that<span class="pagenum" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</span> vast world of vegetable -life which enriches the world today, the Algae have always gone on -reproducing their own kind. Today we can watch, under a microscope, the -activities of the first form of terrestrial life, born incalculable -aeons ago.</p> - -<p>Mayhap the earth would be peopled exclusively by Algae and similar -forms today, if it had not been for a prehistoric accident. One day, -the water suddenly receded from a bit of land and left some Algae in -the mud behind it. Now, the Algae had always been used to plenty of -water and they saw that unless they did some quick thinking, they -were in danger of drying up and blowing away. Accordingly, by common -consent, they secreted and surrounded themselves with a jelly-like mass -capable of absorbing and holding water. The amphibious Liverworts and -the <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Ricciocarpus Natans</i> do the same thing today.</p> - -<p>With the Algae successfully living in the mud, surrounded by their -mucilaginous water-reservoirs, it was but a step for some enterprising -individual to extend a portion of his own tissue in search of more -water. By this simple<span class="pagenum" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</span> act, the first root came into being, and lo! -there were terrestrial plants.</p> - -<p>It is to be noted that all development in the plant world is born of -necessity. To the plants, dependence upon water, food and the impulse -to reproduction may be ascribed the start of many a new form among -them. In the more complex groups we seem to see a conscious striving -for higher and better things, but the lowlier species often need the -goad of circumstance to force them to attainment.</p> - -<p>When the plants first emerged upon the land, a number of structural -changes became necessary. Whereas in the marine world, water is -absorbed directly by all parts of the plant, in land life special -organs of absorption and conductivity must be developed. At first, the -roots were mere rhizoids or hairs, aided by water-drinking leaves and -tubers, as in the Mosses and Liverworts today; but it was not long -before true root and vascular systems were evolved. Other changes which -came with terrestrial life were greater rigidity of tissue and devices -to guard against evaporation. Leaves were developed for the purposes of -manufacturing<span class="pagenum" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</span> starch by photosynthesis, spreading out into thin layers -in order to present the greatest possible surface.</p> - -<p>These lower land plants retained and still retain some characteristics -of their aquatic ancestry, notably swimming spore cells, as in the -Mosses. The formation of rigid cellulose about vegetable cells stops -their movement, except when cilia or projections of protoplasm extend -through openings in the cell walls. The Liverworts were probably among -the first real land plants: their spores are non-motile and they have a -massive, foot-like organ for the absorption of water.</p> - -<p>To the liberality of Nature we must ascribe the development of the law -which ties the plants to the soil. They started out as animals, but -enjoyed such an abundance of food that it became unnecessary for them -to go in search for it. Water and carbon dioxide, which formed their -principal means of subsistence, were all about them; they settled -down to a life of quiet ease. When Corals, Sponges, Oysters and other -lower animals are similarly situated, they become as firmly rooted as -any plant. Moreover,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</span> they have free-swimming larvae analogous to the -active zoospores of certain members of the plant world.</p> - -<p>The first land vegetation of the globe must have presented a curious -spectacle. Imagine a forest consisting of endless repetitions of -Algae, Fungi, Lichens, Liverworts and Mosses, with many forms of -gigantic sizes. The fresh-water Algae early developed a clever device -to save their race from extinction by drought. Certain cells in each -plant became hard and devoid of water, presenting that phenomenon of -suspended animation to be observed in many of the higher seeds. When -drought overtook any particular plant, it died, but these special -restive cells lived, and were carried about by the wind or other -agencies until a new abundance of moisture called them out of their -trance. As zygotes, they exist in the Nostoc today.</p> - -<p>The first plants were non-sexual and propagated by cell division. They -were therefore capable of little advancement. With the introduction -of the sex element, infinite possibilities for racial improvement and -differentiation were opened up. The Mosses and Ferns<span class="pagenum" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</span> belonging to -the family <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Archegoniatae</i> early established an alternation of -generation in which the spores give rise to a small plant which looks -like a Liverwort and bears the reproductive organs. The fertilized ovum -of this plant grows into a leafy, sexless individual which produces -spores non-sexually. We therefore have a generation endowed with sex -organs making for development and progress, alternating with a sexless -generation calculated to continue the tendencies of the race.</p> - -<p>It is undoubtedly the sex element which accounts for those “sports” or -mutations in plantdom which occasionally overstep the limits of species -to form new species.</p> - -<p>In the luxurious atmosphere of the early globe, vegetation waxed -strong and vigorous and attained remarkable proportions. The primeval -woods served to draw the superabundant carbon from the air and in -millions of decayed bodies store it up as graphite, coal, petroleum and -illuminating gas. The present day graphite beds alone represent vast -quantities of ancient vegetation. It is a unique experience to be able -to write or draw pictures of these prehistoric plants<span class="pagenum" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</span> and use, in the -carbon of our pencils, portions of their very bodies.</p> - -<p>Everything was on a grand scale in the “Old Red Sandstone” age. There -were no real trees yet, but the Asterophyllites, with their tall, -slender stems, looked much like Palms. The Eryptogams were immense -Mushrooms. Algae, Zostera and Psilophytons covered the shores with a -tangle of seaweed vegetation.</p> - -<p>In the succeeding carboniferous period, the plant world reached the -climax of its dominion. While the variety was still very much limited, -its vigor and luxuriance were astounding. The Tree-ferns seem to have -come down to us unchanged from that time, but other plant descendants -have dwindled in size greatly. Our humble Mares’ Tails were then twenty -or thirty foot trees called Calamites. The Club-Mosses were giant -Lepidodendrons. Other immense plants which have no direct descendants -were the Sigillarias and the Lomatophylos. With its flexible, fluted -and checkered stems, saw-edged leaves, and hanging garlands of -parasitic Ferns, the carboniferous forest presented a remarkable scene.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</span></p> - -<p>The air was still very moist, covering the entire earth with a -permanent fog and a uniform temperature. It is said that certain -present-day islands in the Pacific Ocean approximate these ancient -conditions.</p> - -<p>All the plants of that time were flowerless, and belonged to neither -the monocotyledonous nor the dicotyledonous classes, which include the -greater number of families today. Thanks to many excellent specimens -found in coal mines, it is possible for scientists to classify as many -as five hundred families. It is believed that coal itself was mostly -formed from small plants, but often entire trunks of the tree-like -forms are found in bituminous strata. Bits of bark, cones and petrified -leaves have also been unearthed at different times.</p> - -<p>In the course of evolution, the Conifer trees were the next to develop -extensively. They gained a great ascendency, but were succeeded by -Palms, Alders, Cypress and Elms. By the Miocene period, all the -forms known in tropic Africa today had come into existence, but were -restricted by no such regional limitations as they labour under now. -Oaks and Palms, Birches<span class="pagenum" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</span> and Bamboos, Elms and Laurels grew side by -side. The Palms reached as far north as Bohemia, Switzerland and -Belgium. Maples, Lindens, Planes, Spruces, Magnolias, Persimmons -and Pines flourished in Greenland. The Silver Fir and the Southern -Cypress advanced to within two hundred leagues of the North Pole. -The California Redwoods and Sequoias are survivors of a race which -flourished in this age.</p> - -<p>Man came very late in the earth’s evolution, but he has had a profound -effect upon the plant world. His most noteworthy feat has been to take -comparatively weak plants like the grains and, for his own purposes, -give them large areas in which to grow. Wheat, Maize, Yams and Tobacco -became widely diffused as cultivated plants before the historic era. It -is probable that Rice and the Legumes were first domesticated in Asia; -Barley and Wheat in Egypt; and Maize, Potatoes, Yams and Manioc in -America.</p> - -<p>The origin and development of plants is a fascinating study. So -authentic are the records which they have left in the eternal rocks -that we have little difficulty in reconstructing their entire race -history.</p> -<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img003"> - <img src="images/003.jpg" class="w75" alt="THE LIFE OF A DAISY IS SPENT IN BRIGHTENING OUR FIELDS -AND PASTURES" /> -</span></p> -<p class="center caption">THE LIFE OF A DAISY IS SPENT IN BRIGHTENING OUR FIELDS -AND PASTURES<br /></p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II<br /><span class="small smcap">LIFE OF A PLANT</span></h2> -</div> - - -<p class="poetry"> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">“<i>We cannot pass a blade of grass unheeded by the way,</i></span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>For it whispers to our thoughts and we its silent voice obey.</i>”</span><br /> -</p> - -<p class="ml"> -—<i>J. E. Carpenter</i><br /> -</p> - - -<p>The growth and development of a plant, though such a common thing, -is full of very real wonder and mystery. It takes only a little -observation to discover the various stages in the process, but how they -are brought about and by what laws they are governed, not even the most -astute investigators can always say.</p> - -<p>To the lay mind, the statement that the plants depend upon the soil -for their nourishment is quite self-evident, yet it is extremely -inaccurate. It is now quite certain that the vegetable world relies -upon the <em>air</em> for its largest and most important food supply. -The great mass of carbon which is the chief constituent of all plant -structure is drawn almost exclusively from the atmosphere. While it is -true that many vital elements are obtained from the earth, all green<span class="pagenum" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</span> -plants manufacture the greater part of their solid material out of -the carbon dioxide of the air. Of what the plants do obtain from the -soil, water makes up the largest bulk. The bread and meat of the plant -world is carbon dioxide; the drink is soil water in which is dissolved -certain essential salts and condiments.</p> - -<p>A chemical analysis of a Green Pea will show approximately 46.5% of -carbon, 4.2% of nitrogen and 3.1% of all other elements, exclusive of -the hydrogen and oxygen which make up the water permeating all tissue.</p> - -<p>This is truly a startling fact. Instead of belonging to the earth, -the plants then belong primarily to the air. The air is their natural -habitat; the earth serves to give them a fixed place in the world and -provide them with flavoured water to drink.</p> - -<p>Plants are born from seeds, the joint product of two previous -individuals; they live by eating and drinking; they marry and in turn -rear families of their own. It is our purpose in this chapter to show, -in a very definite way, that this is not mere figurative language but a -common-sense statement of fact.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</span></p> - -<p>The cycle of plant life can be illustrated by any dicotyledonous, -herbaceous annual. If one is so inclined he may hark back to his high -school days and plant a few Beans in a box as a practical illustration -of the facts stated here.</p> - -<p>The first action of the planted Bean is to absorb water to a prodigious -amount, and so wake the quiescent life forces which may have been -slumbering within it for years. It is a law of animal and vegetable -life that all vital processes must be performed in solution. Without -water, life is dead or somnolent.</p> - -<p>When Nature made the Bean, she left a small opening or window in -its skin-wall called the micropyle. Through this opening of the -water-swollen seed, now issue two pale sprouts. One is long and -pointed; it is the radicle or incipient root. The other is stubbier -and is tipped by a cluster of folded, yellow-green leaves; it is the -plumule or incipient stem. With unerring exactness, the radicle grows -down into the soil and the plumule feels its way up into the air.</p> - -<p>By this time, the seed has burst its walls and split into two halves, -which indicates that it belongs to the dicotyledonous group of plants. -As<span class="pagenum" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</span> the seedling continues to grow, these cotyledons begin to shrink -and shrivel. The plant is living on their substance until it can begin -to make its own. In the case of the Bean, the stem lifts the emaciated -cotyledons up into the air, where they act as leaves until the tiny -green things at the stem’s tip have expanded into those important -organs.</p> - -<p>When the first leaves have fully opened and the spent cotyledons have -dropped off as mere empty shells, the independent life of the plant may -be said to have begun. We are now in a position to examine its methods -of living.</p> - -<p>Examining the root, we find that by this time it has expanded into -many branches. Each tip is a tiny mouth through which the plant drinks -the all-important water and mineral salts. Root tips exercise great -ingenuity; they feel their way underground, touching here, recoiling -there, and searching out the elements necessary to the plant’s economy -with wonderful sagacity.</p> - -<p>The actual absorption is done by minute filaments or hairs which take -in water and its dissolved contents by osmotic action. They secrete -a digestive fluid which renders certain<span class="pagenum" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</span> minerals soluble, and by a -strange intelligence, select the kind and amount of material they -take in. In certain groups of plants, notably the Legumes, colonies -of Bacteria take the place of root hairs, and by a reciprocal action, -provide the plant with the nitrogenous elements which it craves.</p> - -<p>The principal food of most vital importance taken in by the roots is -nitrogen. Nitrogen is one of the basic elements of protoplasm, the -life fluid of the living cell. Where there is life, there is nitrogen. -Sulphur, phosphorous, silica, iron and other elements are also needed -in small quantities.</p> - -<p>The root hairs are constructed so as to allow fluids to pass in but not -out. The continual absorption of water results in a mechanical pressure -which automatically forces the sap up through the stem to all parts of -the plant. The process is aided by the evaporation of water from the -leaves, through the partial vacuum created by them at the top of the -system. Pushed from below and pulled from above, the sap of a tree, -for instance, moves with a propulsive<span class="pagenum" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</span> power greater than the blood -pressure of the strongest animal.</p> - -<p>Above the roots and the stem of the developing plant are the branches. -Their function is too well known to need much comment. They raise -the leaves up into the air and the light. They act as conduits for -ascending and descending sap. They give the plant strength and -rigidity. Each main stem is a clever bit of plant engineering, so built -as to withstand all kinds of heavy strains and stresses.</p> - -<p>The leaves of our seedling are extremely important parts of its -anatomy. Pluck them off and it will die in a few hours. They are -mouths, stomachs and lungs all in one. Their surfaces are broad and -flat, in order that they may catch and devour every particle of -carbon dioxide which comes their way. To us, carbon dioxide is a -negligible part of the atmosphere, but out of this intangible product -of combustion, arising from fires, breathed out by animals and expelled -by volcanoes and hot springs, the tallest tree builds its greatest -structure. Is it any wonder that it takes so long!</p> - -<p>In the inner tissue of each leaf is a substance<span class="pagenum" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</span> called chlorophyll. -It is the material which gives leaves their green colour. It is one -of the most important substances in plantdom. Under the influence of -sunlight, this chlorophyll takes the carbon dioxide of the air, and, -with water and certain minerals, makes starch, the raw material of -plant construction. This process, called photosynthesis, goes on while -the sun shines, and stops with the approach of darkness. The necessity -of plenty of light cannot be overestimated.</p> - -<p>In the manufacture of starch, oxygen occurs as a by-product. As -the plant has no use for this element, it is breathed out from -the surface of the leaves. From the standpoint of man, this makes -plants atmospheric purifiers. At night, when the making of starch is -suspended, there is often a superabundance of carbon dioxide within -plant structures. It is this gas which is now exhaled, though in very -small amounts. Some authorities maintain that the excess of carbon -dioxide is contained in water absorbed by the roots. In the daytime -this is welcomed as additional starch material, but at night there is -no use for it.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</span></p> - -<p>Another substance which is always present in excess of plant needs is -water. It is essential as a tissue builder and also as a carrier of -nourishment. Its continual evaporation from the leaf surfaces furnishes -one of the sources of motive power for the circulatory system. The rate -of evaporation is controlled by the stomata, little pores or mouths -which have contractible lips. In the Lilac there are as many as one -hundred and twenty thousand stomata to the square inch. They are nearly -always located on the under surface of the leaves.</p> - -<p>Certain plants like the Cacti seem to be able to get along without -leaves, but thick, fleshy sections of stem perform all their functions. -The Fungi and other parasites differ from most plants in that they have -no chlorophyll for starch-making but live on the already elaborated -tissue of living or dead neighbors.</p> - -<p>When our seedling grows old enough, it marries and has a family. Among -the higher plants, the sexes are quite distinct. There are such things -as male plants and such things as female plants, but more often both -sexes occur in the same individual and frequently in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</span> the same flowers. -The Hop, Nettle, and Date Palm are one-sex plants. Maize has flowers of -different sexes on the same stem.</p> - -<p>Flowers are the reproductive organs. In the blossom of the Bean, the -stamens are the male organs and the pistil is the female organ. The -stamens produce dust-like pollen which is conveyed by the wind to the -pistil of some other flower. Pollen grains deposited on the stigma of -the pistil are held there by a sticky secretion until they can grow -a long tube which travels down the style, eventually reaching and -fertilizing the tiny ovules or eggs.</p> - -<p>The ovules then develop into seeds and the pistil grows into a pod, on -both of which the parent plant bends all its energies to give a good -start in the world.</p> - -<p>The cycle is now complete. We have another Bean and are back to where -we started, ready for some other fellow to plant the new Bean and -perform the experiment all over again.</p> - -<p>This is the story in brief, but there are many other details. The -different plants have invented and perfected all kinds of devices -to secure the effective propagation of the race.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</span> The Hazel and the -Grasses hang their stamens out in the wind in order that it may blow -their pollen to some other plant, which is waiting with feathered -pistil to catch it. Most garden plants depend on the insects to act as -pollen carriers and display gorgeous flower-petals and nectar pits with -which to attract them. Many plants aim to prevent self-fertilization by -having the stamens and the pistil come to maturity at different times.</p> - -<p>The plants go to great lengths to secure an advantageous distribution -of their offspring. The nature of a plant is to live by growing. When -it has reached a prescribed height, it must continue the process by -producing new individuals to carry on the cycle. It gives its children -a start in the world by providing them with wings, bladders, feathers, -spikes, thorns, sticky secretions, submarines, boats, and kites, -according to the method of travel they are to use. Sometimes the -matured pistil or fruit is dispersed entire. Sometimes it opens and -shoots the seeds out. The Violet and Oxalis act like veritable guns, so -vigorously do they expel their seeds. There are seed-capsules, like<span class="pagenum" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</span> -those of the Primrose and Xanthium Spinosum, which open at the top so -that only a high and efficient wind can dislodge the seeds.</p> - -<p>The problem of food storage is an important one in plantdom. Annuals -die when they have flowered and produced seed. Perennials wither but -persist for a number of seasons and sometimes many years. Those whose -stems or trunks are permanent withdraw their starch and chlorophyll -into their cambium layer where it is safe from freezing. Those which -die down to the ground each fall store up food material in underground -stems and roots in sufficient amount to get a good start the following -season. The Potato is an enlargement of the underground stem, but -Carrots, Beets, and Turnips are bulbous roots. Hyacinths, Tulips, -Daffodils, Snowdrops, Crocuses, and Buttercups all store food material -in bulbs. Practically all wild flowers which come up early in the -spring, feed upon the nutriment manufactured during the previous season.</p> - -<p>Buds represent the foliage of the coming season. Each fall, trees and -bushes prepare<span class="pagenum" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</span> for next year’s growth by putting forth miniature -shoots and leaves folded up in warm brown overcoats. At spring’s urgent -call, the buds have merely to cast aside their coverings and step out -into the warm sunlight. These buds really make a tree a community of -individuals, because each one is capable of reproducing everything that -has occurred on the plant up to that point. This is the principle on -which grafting is carried on.</p> - -<p>The most wonderful thing in all plant structure is the plant cell. -There are anywhere from six thousand to twelve thousand of these living -units to the square inch. In their restless, moving protoplasm lies -the mystery of life—the directing energy which controls the plant’s -activities and makes it a conscious, intelligent organism.</p> -<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img004"> - <img src="images/004.jpg" class="w75" alt="IF THIS AGED CEDAR COULD TELL ITS LIFE’S STORY, WE WOULD -FIND IT FULL OF ROMANCE AND ADVENTURE" /> -</span></p> -<p class="center caption">IF THIS AGED CEDAR COULD TELL ITS LIFE’S STORY, WE WOULD -FIND IT FULL OF ROMANCE AND ADVENTURE<br /></p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III<br /><span class="small smcap">Migrations of Plants</span></h2> -</div> - - -<p class="poetry"> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">“<i>Race after race of leaves and men</i></span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><i>Bloom, wither and are gone;</i></span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>As winds and water rise and fall</i></span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><i>So life and death roll on.</i>”</span><br /> -</p> - - -<p>We are so in the habit of thinking of plants as fixed and static things -that it rarely occurs to us that they migrate over the earth’s surface -quite as extensively as do men or animals.</p> - -<p>While it is probably true that vegetation originated simultaneously -at different points on the globe’s surface, not much observation is -necessary to indicate that it does not always stay where it is put. -Plants are peculiar and native to certain lands in a very definite -way, but their love of adventure often carries them to the far corners -of the earth. They are the most energetic and effective colonizers in -existence. The complete history of plantdom would include the stories -of invasions, conquests<span class="pagenum" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</span> and revolutions quite as stirring as anything -in human annals.</p> - -<p>If it is absorbing to follow the racial movements of man, ancient and -modern, it is equally fascinating for a lover of plants to investigate -<em>their</em> migratory habits. We have exact records of many of their -travels and can make interesting conjectures about the rest.</p> - -<p>To a layman, the present distribution of plants may seem chaotic. He -reads that certain families are natives of Europe and Australia, or -North America and Africa and are absent from all intervening countries. -The Alpine species <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Primulas</i> and <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Saxifrages</i> are common -to both the Arctic and the Antarctic. There are fifty-eight European -and New Zealand species which are identical. The British Grass <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Poa -Annua</i> is also found in the Andes of Brazil. Through what thousands -of years of change and evolution have these things come about! Yet the -results are no more complex than was the filling of America with its -mixed and conglomerate human population.</p> - -<p>In a general way, there is a measure of fixity to plant distribution. -Certain plants have elected<span class="pagenum" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</span> the tropics as their home; and only under -the greatest stress of circumstance can they be induced to go elsewhere.</p> - -<p>Tropical heat and moisture make for luxuriance of vegetation. There -is a much greater variety there than in the North. Woody Vines climb -the tallest trunks, where they intermingle their leaves and blossoms -with those of their host. Gorgeous Air Plants beautify and perfume the -forest. Stately Palms wave magnificent bouquets of pendulous fronds.</p> - -<p>As we travel away from the equator, the vegetation takes on a simpler -aspect. There are more annuals and more herbs. The number of Ferns, -Grasses, and catkin-bearing Trees, like the Alder and the Birch, -increase. The limited growing seasons make for a more restricted -accumulation of tissue. Such tropic plants as have braved the rigours -of the colder climates have dwindled much in size. The Castor Oil Tree -becomes a humble annual (<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Ricinus Communis</i>) only three to eight -feet in height. Other tropical trees become so small that temperate -zone folk tread them under foot.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</span></p> - -<p>When we get into the polar regions, all the plants take on a stunted -and dwarfed appearance and, in some cases, retire almost entirely -under ground. The number of genera and species is much reduced. The -Oak, Walnut, Chestnut and Elm are replaced by the hardy conifers. At -the point where vegetation becomes almost extinct are dwarf Birches, -Willows and polar Blackberries (<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Rubus Arcticus</i>). The simple -Mosses and Lichens mark the last lingering evidences of life.</p> - -<p>A curious feature of plant life in the polar regions is the rapid -growth which it often exhibits. The summer of the Far North is short -but it is one day of intense and blinding light. The sun shines -continually throughout each twenty-four hours. By virtue of its -stimulating power, plants are able to perform in a few weeks processes -of development which take months under ordinary conditions.</p> - -<p>It is illuminating to take a single country in a more favoured climate -and, as far as possible, trace its plant history. The British Isles, -because of their limited area, are a convenient field of study. An -investigation of their settlement<span class="pagenum" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</span> by plants gives us many hints about -prehistoric climatic and geographical changes.</p> - -<p>Geologists generally believe that the British Isles were once joined -to the mainland of Europe. It was at this time that they were settled -by vegetation. Some of this plant life came from Spain and some from -southwest France; there was also a Germanic group. The floating ice of -the glacial period brought over hardy visitors from the Scandinavian -peninsula. A few plant immigrants arrived from North America and landed -on the west coast of Ireland.</p> - -<p><abbr title="saint">St.</abbr> Helena is an isolated volcanic mass built up seventeen thousand -feet from the bed of the ocean. It therefore has its own peculiar -vegetation, a portion of which is believed to have been evolved on the -spot from the one-celled state. According to Sir Joseph Hooker, forty -out of fifty flowering plants and ten out of twenty-six Ferns “with -scarcely an exception cannot be regarded as very close specific allies -of any other plants at all.” Sixteen of the Ferns are common to Africa, -India or America and were probably carried there by the wind.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</span> Ocean -currents also brought other species from Africa.</p> - -<p>In 1883, a most interesting thing occurred on the Asiatic island of -Krakatoa. A violent volcanic eruption wiped every vestige of life -off its surface. When the flow of lava ceased and the earth cooled -once more, Krakatoa was to all intents and purposes a volcanic island -newly risen from the sea. It presented the exact analogy of a recently -created bit of land waiting to be settled by the plants. In 1883, it -was as barren as the face of the moon. In 1888, a <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Hemsley described -its appearance as follows:—</p> - -<p>“The first phase of the new vegetation, was a thin film of microscopic -fresh-water Algae, forming a green, slimy coating, such as may often -be seen on damp rocks, and furnishing a hygroscopic condition, in the -absence of which it is doubtful whether the Ferns by which they were -followed could have established themselves. Both Algae and Ferns are -reproduced from microscopic spores, which are readily conveyed long -distances by winds. Eleven species of Ferns were found, all of very<span class="pagenum" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</span> -wide distribution, and some of them had already become common the -fourth year after the eruption. Scattered here and there among the -Ferns were isolated individuals of flowering plants, belonging to such -kinds as have succulent seed-vessels eaten by birds, or such as have a -light, feathery seed-vessel like the Dandelion and a host of others, -and are wafted from place to place by the winds.</p> - -<p>“On the seashore there were young plants and seeds (or seed-vessels -containing seeds) of upwards of a dozen other herbs, shrubs and trees, -all of them common on coral islands, and all known to have seeds -capable of bearing long immersion in sea water without injury. Among -the established seedlings were those of several large trees, and a -Convolvulus that grows on almost all tropical coasts, often forming -runners one hundred yards in length. There were Cocoanuts also, though -none had germinated.”</p> - -<p>The farther such an island is from the land, the longer will vegetation -take to get established. Darwin found that the isolated islands<span class="pagenum" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</span> of -Keeling, after thousands of years of existence, contained only twenty -kinds of flowering plants.</p> - -<p>Although plants have no legs they are not devoid of mobility. When man -uses the propulsive power of steam to travel by, he shows no greater -ingenuity than do plants in their use of special devices of locomotion.</p> - -<p>Species like the Tumble Weed (<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Amarantus Albus</i>) pull up stakes, -and, consigning themselves to the swift autumn winds, race across -country at great speed, scattering seeds as they go. The Utriculariae -or Bladderworts are true sailors and float about on inland streams like -little ships. The Duckweeds and Wolffias also have aquatic habits.</p> - -<p>However, most plants prefer to travel in embryo. In the form of small -and microscopic seeds the force of gravity has little influence on -them, and they can journey for long and incredible distances.</p> - -<p>To this end practically every seed in existence is provided with -some apparatus or appendage designed to help it make its way in the -world. The Elm, the Linden, and the Ash<span class="pagenum" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</span> bear winged seeds, which -are so efficient in riding the breeze that they are really miniature -aeroplanes. The double wings of the Maple are very much like those of -an insect. The seeds are released from their container in such manner -as to acquire a whirling motion as they fall.</p> - -<p>The progeny of the Willow is provided with long projecting hairs which -curl together to form a tiny balloon. Feathery attachments called -pappus enable the children of the Dandelion, the Thistle and the Fire -Weed to go on long jaunts of exploration.</p> - -<p>The seed-pods of the Sycamore are great rollers. Even ordinary nuts and -fruits may be blown to considerable distances by the strong winds of -autumn. The many edible seeds and fruits are carried gratis by birds -and animals. The Mistletoe, for instance, is distributed entirely by -them.</p> - -<p>Walnuts, Butternuts, and Acorns bear water travel well, as do certain -of the hard seeds. The Arrowhead (<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Sagittaria</i>) has a self-made -water-wing on which its offspring float.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</span></p> - -<p>Plant seeds, which like to travel on animals, all provide themselves -with grappling irons in the shape of sharp hooks, spurs and spines with -which they cling to their carriers. Everybody in the northern United -States knows of the avidity with which the Cockle-bur clings to any -passing object. The Touch-me-not (<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Impatiens</i>), the Wistaria, and -a host of others, actually shoot their seeds from their pods as from a -gun.</p> - -<p>Every vagrant breeze, every purling brook, every deep river, every -ocean current, is a highway of travel in plantdom. The birds, the -beasts, the insects, and not least, man himself, are involuntary -vehicles on which our vegetable friends tour the world. The spores of -Mosses, Lichens, Fungi and other cryptogams are so light that they -find no difficulty in mounting into the air and traveling across the -Atlantic or Pacific Oceans at will.</p> - -<p>The complete record of plant conquests would fill many volumes. Their -operations have extended into every land and have had influence on the -world’s history. It very often happens that plant invaders become so -quickly<span class="pagenum" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</span> and thoroughly naturalized in a strange country that they go -a long way toward supplanting the original inhabitants in a very short -time.</p> - -<p>It was Darwin who first noticed the extensive conquests of the Cardoon -Artichoke (<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Cynara Cardunculus</i>) in South America. In one section, -these prickly plants covered an area of several hundred square miles, -having entirely superceded the aborigines.</p> - -<p>It is well known that the most troublesome of the American weeds -are of British origin. On the other hand, the American water weed -<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Anacharis</i> blocks up small English streams. The grass called -<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Stipa Tortilis</i> has captured the steppes of southern Russia. -The love of change seems to be an inherent tendency in plantdom. The -Pigweed and the Morning Glory have come north from the tropics. The -Canada Thistle, originally a foreigner in North America, has spread all -over Canada and New England. The American <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Erigeron Canadense</i> -has emigrated to all parts of the world. The flora of Scandinavia, -like its people, are aggressive colonizers. More than one hundred and -fifty species have reached New Zealand alone<span class="pagenum" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</span> and nearly as many have -established themselves in the eastern United States.</p> - -<p>Some plants seem to be able to adapt themselves to any climate and -therefore are born explorers, but the greater number are too fastidious -regarding conditions of soil, heat, light and moisture to thrive well -everywhere. It is a noticeable fact that the most successful plant -invaders usually come in the wake of human colonizers and stick to the -sphere of man’s influence. For example, the Butter-and-Eggs (<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Linaria -Linaria</i>) has followed the railroad tracks almost entirely over the -tropical and semi-tropical world. Sometimes, however, hardy plants -advance into the primeval jungle, there to give battle to its lusty -inhabitants.</p> - -<p>On the whole, annuals have a better chance than perennials to gain a -foothold in a new country. Every spring the weeds, grasses, and common -flowering plants have to start all over again from a seed beginning. -The spores of newcomers, therefore, have almost an equal chance -with the established inhabitants. On the other hand, the bodies of -perennials occupy the land in close-packed ranks all the year,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</span> ready -to dispute every inch of ground with an aggressor. It is very hard for -new plants to gain entrance into a well-grown forest.</p> - -<p>Man has been of tremendous aid in the distribution of plants over the -earth’s surface. Either consciously or unconsciously he takes his -plants with him wherever he goes.</p> - -<p>It was the Emperor Chang-Chien who carried the Bean, Cucumber, Lucerne, -Saffron, Walnut, Pea, Spinach and Watermelon from Asia to China about -200 B. C. The period of Roman conquest was a great epoch in the history -of plant migrations. The Peach and the Apricot first became prominent -as fruits at that time. Roman generals introduced the Pear, Peach, -Cherry, Mulberry, Walnut and many ornamental shrubs into England.</p> - -<p>From an obscure native of Bengal, the Sugar Cane has become an -important plant of wide distribution. Coffee, a wild berry of Arabia, -is now the chief crop of whole countries in the West Indies and South -America. The yellow Maize of America has become a citizen of the world. -The weak and humble Wheat is the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</span> sole possessor of thousands of square -miles of land in America, Russia and elsewhere.</p> - -<p>All this has been wrought by man’s efforts. When it is to his interest, -he fights the battles of plantdom, and because of his superior -knowledge and equipment is of tremendous service. Sometimes, however, -he gives aid to his plant friends through motives that are quite -unselfish. A romantic story is related of a French naval officer named -Declieux who once elected to carry a Coffee Plant to the Colony of -Martinique. The supply of water ran low during the voyage, and, rather -than see the plant die, the man shared his daily glass with it, at -considerate discomfort to himself.</p> - -<p>Until man becomes all-wise, he will continue to make mistakes; and -not least of these will be in connection with his investigations into -the mysteries of Nature. It has happened more than once that he has -introduced some new plant into an old land, or vice versa, and lived to -thoroughly regret his action.</p> - -<p>Sometime in 1890, a generously inclined individual threw a Water -Hyacinth into the <abbr title="saint">St.</abbr> Johns River in Florida. In the space of a few<span class="pagenum" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</span> -short years, that single plant had multiplied so prodigiously as to -seriously impede navigation, lumbering and fishing.</p> - -<p>Jack London tells of a similiar thing that happened in Hawaii: “In -the United States, in greenhouses and old-fashioned gardens, grows a -potted flowering shrub called Lantana; in India dwells a very noisy -and quarrelsome bird known as the Myna. Both were introduced into -Hawaii—the bird to feed upon the cut-worm of a certain moth; the -flower to gladden with old associations the heart of a flower-loving -missionary. But the land loved the Lantana. From a small flower that -grew in a pot, the Lantana took to itself feet and walked out of the -pot into the missionary’s garden. Here it flourished and increased -mightily in size and constitution. From over the garden wall came the -love call of all Hawaii, and the Lantana responded to the call, climbed -over the wall, and went a-roving and a-loving in the wild woods.</p> - -<p>“And just as the Lantana had taken to itself feet, by the seduction of -its seed it added to itself the wings of the Myna, which distributed -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</span> its seed over every island in the group. From a delicate, -hand-manicured, potted plant of the greenhouse, it shot up into a -tough, and belligerent swashbuckler a fathom tall, that marched in -serried ranks over the landscape, crushing beneath it and choking to -death all the sweet native grasses, shrubs and flowers. In the lower -forests, it became jungle, in the open, it became jungle only more so. -It was practically impenetrable to man. The cattlemen wailed and vainly -fought with it. It grew faster and spread faster than they could grub -it out.”</p> - -<p>Then ensued a battle royal between man and plant. The man called to -his aid hosts of insect mercenaries. “Some of these predacious enemies -of the Lantana ate and sucked and sapped. Others made incubators out -of the stems, tunnelled and undermined the flower-clusters, hatched -maggots in the hearts of the seeds, or covered the leaves with -suffocating fungoid growths. Thus simultaneously attacked in front and -rear and flank, above and below, inside and out, the all-conquering -swashbuckler recoiled. Today, the battle is almost<span class="pagenum" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</span> over, and what -remains of the Lantana is putting up a sickly and losing fight. -Unfortunately, one of the mercenaries has mutinied. This is the -accidently introduced Mani Blight, which is now waging unholy war upon -garden flowers and ornamental plants, and against which some other army -of mercenaries must be turned.”</p> - -<p>Such unfortunate occurrences are sure to become more and more -infrequent as plant emigration and immigration finds itself under -increasingly drastic governmental regulation.</p> - -<p>The Foreign Seed and Plant Introduction Service of the United States -Department of Agriculture makes a scientific examination of all plants -brought into the United States for propagation purposes. It rids them -of objectionable Bacteria and insect pests and refuses them admittance -entirely if its experts decide that the newcomers will be harmful or -injurious in any way.</p> - -<p>The agents of the Service are constantly scouring the far corners of -the earth for new and rare plants. In the twenty-four years of its -existence it has introduced from abroad some<span class="pagenum" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</span> fifty thousand specimens -of seeds and plant cuttings. Some of the successful immigrants have -been Feterita (from Egypt), Sudan Grass, Bamboo and Alfalfa. New -Zealand has yielded new types of Potatoes. Dwarf Almonds and strange -Cherries and Apricots have come from Turkestan. All these have proven -of commercial importance, as has Durum Russian Wheat, credited with -opening up new areas in the Northwest, and the Navel Orange from Brazil -which has created for itself a California industry covering thirty -thousand acres and valued at fifteen million dollars per annum.</p> - -<p>Painstaking and scientific methods are best when man attempts to aid -Nature in her evolutionary processes, especially when they are in -connection with the migration and distribution of plants.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV<br /><span class="small"><span class="smcap">Comrades of the Plant World</span></span></h2> -</div> - - -<p class="poetry"> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">“... <i>which links by a fraternal tie</i></span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>The meanest of His creatures with the high.</i>”</span><br /> -</p> - -<p class="ml"> -—<i>Lamartine</i><br /> -</p> - - -<p>The first and greatest problem for every terrestrial creature is to -live. The chief means of doing so is to eat. Therefore, the relation of -being to being and species to species is dominated by the necessity for -food. Among man this fact is somewhat masked and obscured, but in the -rest of the world it is entirely plain and obvious. Again and again on -every hand, we see that plant, animal, and man all maintain their life -impulses by consuming the tissue of their fellows.</p> - -<p>In view of this fundamental fact, we can afford to look with some -degree of charity upon that class of plants which are termed parasites. -These interesting creatures are merely carrying out in a very direct -and apparent way a principle which permeates all domains of life. A<span class="pagenum" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</span> -Tiger kills its prey; an Ox devours unoffending Grass; the parasitic -Dodder robs some healthy neighbour of part of its juices.</p> - -<p>The word “parasite” originally referred to a member of a college of -priests who had their meals in common. Later, it came to mean living -at another’s expense, as large numbers of people did in classical -times. When one realizes that there are twenty-five hundred species -of parasitical seed plants, he hesitates to brand them all as thieves -and degenerates. Taking into consideration plants which depend upon -the soil fungi for part of their sustenance, we should have to call -half the seed plants in the world “parasites.” On a basis of strict -accountability, it would also be necessary to classify all fruits as -“parasites” as they draw nourishment from the parent boughs and give no -return.</p> - -<p>The fact is there are very few plants which are not more or less -dependent upon some living fellow creature for their food supply. -Sometimes the relation is strictly reciprocal; sometimes the advantage -appears to greatly favour one or the other of the participants. In -other cases the occurrence arises accidently<span class="pagenum" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</span> through chance proximity, -without a conscious pact or deliberate contract.</p> - -<p>Edward Step in his illuminating book <i>Messmates</i> sums up the -matter admirably: “Two friends in good health, each able to earn his -own living, agree for the sake of companionship to live together, but -each defraying the cost of his own necessities and luxuries. This is -a case of mutualism. Two other friends also agree to share quarters -and have a common table; but one may be infirm and wealthy whilst the -other is strong and comparatively poor. The infirm one offers to pay -two-thirds of their common expenses if the other will contribute one -third, plus his protection, cheerful companionship or other valuable -help. This is a commensalism. The pair are messmates, each contributing -to hotch-potch according to his ability or endowment, each affording -what the other lacks, and both, therefore, benefitting from the -partnership.”</p> - -<p>It must be admitted that there are cases of plant companionship in -which, to all human perception, the material benefits seem directly -one-sided, but who can conclusively deny that<span class="pagenum" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</span> the nourishment-giving -partner may not receive some psychic or spiritual benefit from the -union? The Orchids and many other tree-parasites bear flowers of -exquisite beauty. Can we be quite sure that the trees do not like to -adorn themselves with gorgeous ornaments of this kind? Such a desire -would be quite natural.</p> - -<p>Plants which are low and weak in the scale of evolution are very -prone to enter into symbiotic relations. The Lichens are compound -organisms in which green Algal cells live between fungous threads. -The Fungus sucks up the water and mineral salts from the soil and the -Alga combines them with carbon dioxide from the air to form palatable -food for both. Such plant-partners have been observed to live together -amiably for twenty-five years or more.</p> - -<p>The Fungi and all plants which are “pale, fleshy, as if the decaying -dead with a spirit of life had been animated” have no chlorophyll, the -mysterious green substance which is necessary for the production of -starch. They must either make alliances with plants which possess this -vital elixir or live on decaying matter<span class="pagenum" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</span> which contains elaborated -food material. Many choose the latter course, but a goodly number, -especially those of primitive structure, have entered into profitable -partnerships.</p> - -<p>The minute one-celled plants called Zoochlorella or Zooxanthella have -chosen the fresh water sponge <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Ephydatia Fluviatilis</i> for their -messmates. Sometimes they live with the Hydra called <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Viridis</i> and -impart to it a bright green colour.</p> - -<p>There are whole regiments of microscopic parasites which thrive on -living plant tissue and cause spots and rust to appear on Apples, -Peaches, Pears and other fruits and number among their cohorts -Rose-blight, Wheat-rust, and various Mildews. The larger messmate does -not receive very much benefit from the relation, in this instance, -except when the minute guests serve to cover a cut or an abrasion with -a protective mantle, just as Mildew shields cheese or jelly from decay.</p> - -<p>Cases where Fungi render very valuable services to larger plants are -exemplified by the Monotropa or Indian Pipe. This pallid scavenger -grows on the decaying vegetable matter<span class="pagenum" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</span> of the woods. It toils not, -neither does it make plant starch, but it is able to produce pretty, -ghostly flowers and white scale-like leaves. On its roots thrive -species of Fungi which perform the part of root hairs and in return -receive nourishment from their host. Certain authorities claim that the -Fungi get the better of the bargain, as the Monotropa has been known to -maintain its health without them in laboratories. But the fact is the -relation <em>does</em> exist with undisputed benefit to both parties.</p> - -<p>Beech Drops germinate in contact with roots of the Beech tree, attach -themselves there and raise yellow, seared stems covered with scales -instead of leaves but bearing perfect flowers. The Broom-Rapes get -their nourishment from the roots of Tobacco and Hemp in the same way.</p> - -<p>Prominent among the larger parasitic plants is the Dodder or Devil’s -Thread. This vine derives all its sustenance from other plants and, -as far as can be determined, gives no material return. From this -standpoint, the Dodder is a robber pure and simple, a degenerate -outcast from the community of decent plants. From<span class="pagenum" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</span> the viewpoint of -this chapter, it is possible to believe that the host of the Dodder -derives some spiritual or hidden material benefit from the union which -makes it distinctly worth while. If such were not the case, it would -seem that, through ages of evolutionary development, such plants as -Flax would have devised means to escape the Dodder’s clutches.</p> - -<p>The Dodder inhabits low ground and pokes an inquiring head above the -surface each spring much like any self-sustaining plant. However, it is -not long before it attaches itself to some lusty neighbour by root-like -suckers, which pierce the stem and extract the nourishing juices. If -the supply seems adequate, the Dodder winds its yellow, yarn-like -tendrils about the host and allows the roots which connect it to the -earth to wither. Its absorbing tubercles look like caterpillar feet; -their cells form a perfect graft with the host and gradually disperse -through its body. If other plants are near enough, the Devil’s Thread -will reach out and tap their food supplies also. A single Dodder -has been known to draw nourishment from five or six other plants of -different families<span class="pagenum" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</span> at the same time, thus indicating that it must have -digestive machinery enough to appropriate these varying saps to its own -uses. The Dodder has no chlorophyll and therefore no leaves but bears -pretty little bell-like flowers which later produce seed.</p> - -<p>In the tropical jungles are many parasites of brilliant aspect, which, -having no leaves or root hairs, germinate directly on supporting plants -and apply suckers to the tissues of their hosts. When seen from the -ground, their short stems make them seem all flower, and often very -handsome ones. The <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Rafflesia Arnoldi</i> of Sumatra is a notable -example.</p> - -<p>Man cannot help condemning such plant practices. Yet all Nature is a -struggle for existence. Does it not require some courage and hardihood -to come out and do in a bold and open way what the rest of the universe -is doing by indirect or underhand methods?</p> - -<p>The beautiful Orchids belong to a botanic group of Epiphytes which -may be classified as guests or lodgers. Being green, they are able to -gather their own living from dust, rain and carbon dioxide in the air. -All they<span class="pagenum" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</span> ask from their tree-hosts is a branch on which to perch. -There are probably few trees which are not delighted to have such -delicate, fairy-like creatures add to their own beauty and charm. They -wear them much as a woman wears a rose in her hair.</p> - -<p>In America there are well-mannered parasites such as the decorative -Spanish Moss so common throughout the South. This plant is normal in -all respects; except that, perched on a kindly tree, it draws all its -nourishment from the air instead of through soil-piercing roots.</p> - -<p>The Mistletoe is a perfect example of a mutualist. Early in its aerial -life, it sends a root through the bark of its tree companion and during -the spring and summer, absorbs much food. When winter days come, and -the tree has lost its leaves, the grateful messmate reverses the -process and sends into the heart of its friend the larger part of the -nourishment which it has been able to store up during the prosperous -weeks of summer. The seeds of the Mistletoe are interesting because -they are covered with a sticky fluid which enables them to travel from -tree to tree on the feet of birds.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</span></p> - -<p>That some plants are parasites from necessity or laziness rather than -choice is indicated by a Brazilian variety of the Cuckoo-Pint which -sits far up on some tree branch and, like an immense spider, sends down -to the earth long delicate tubes through which it sometimes sucks food -and water.</p> - -<p>One of the most interesting facts in plantdom is the alliance -maintained by Clovers, Beans, Vetches and other leguminous plants, -with Bacteria belonging to the class <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Pseudomonas</i>. No soil can -be fertile unless it contains organic compounds of nitrogen. The -earth Bacteria have discovered methods of producing these important -substances, possibly extracting nitrogen distributed through the -ground. These minute parasites attach themselves to the roots of -the larger plants, which promptly enclose them in cysts or nodules -where they can lead a sheltered life and manufacture assimilable food -compounds for their hosts. When they die, the owners of the roots feed -upon their bodies.</p> - -<p>What is the art of grafting but a form of artificial parasitism? Very -often a branch or<span class="pagenum" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</span> cutting is made to form a bodily union with some -plant of an entirely dissimilar species. In some cases, the intruder -sends roots into the tissue of its host like a true dependent. Grafts -of Prickly Pears, Mexican Grapevines and Agaves put forth food-suckers -in the soft flesh of the Giant Cactus or the Barrel Cactus much as they -would do if planted in the earth. There is here no true diffusive union -of partners but mere absorption on the part of the invader.</p> - -<p>Even grafting of allied species of Grapes sometimes results in the -young plants sending roots through the tissues of the scion, eventually -reaching the earth by way of the body of the host. In such cases, the -parasite also draws nutriment from its messmate by means of a superior -osmotic pressure.</p> - -<p>Almost everything lies in the point of view. No man, no animal, no -plant is so debased and degraded that it does not radiate some little -measure of helpfulness. If “all things work together for good,” even -that member of a plant union which seems to act upon that inverted -principle of “all coming in and nothing going<span class="pagenum" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</span> out” has its legitimate -place in the world. As for those numerous examples of share-alike -partnerships, they illustrate the principle of the divine law of love -which lies back of and above the very real hardships and cruelties of -this work-a-day world.</p> -<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img005"> - <img src="images/005.jpg" class="w75" alt="FRIENDLY ALLIES BY THE WATER’S EDGE" /> -</span></p> -<p class="center caption">FRIENDLY ALLIES BY THE WATER’S EDGE<br /></p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V<br /><span class="small"><span class="smcap">Allies of the Plant World</span></span></h2> -</div> - - -<p class="poetry"> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">“<i>I wish I were a willow tree—</i></span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>Young wind in the green hair of me</i></span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>And old brown water round my feet,</i></span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>And a familiar bird to greet.</i>”</span><br /> -</p> - -<p class="ml"> -—<i>Elizabeth Fahnestock.</i><br /> -</p> - - -<p>Every division of terrestrial life constitutes a struggle. The plants -grow and carry on their business and social activities so unobtrusively -that we seldom think of them as appealing to arms—yet their whole -existence is a battle royal. They must fight with aspiring neighbours -for every inch of their upward growth, and at the same time wage -incessant warfare against a hundred insects and animal foes.</p> - -<p>Under such strenuous conditions, it is only to be expected that the -plants should seek profitable alliances with birds, insects and animals -having interests similiar to their own. Such pacts are described by -botanists as examples of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</span> symbiosis; they most frequently occur between -plants and insects, but the plants also have their working agreements -with members of the other two great kingdoms of life. In fact, all -Nature is a vast system of checks and balances, with every creature -preying more or less upon every other creature, except when they can -gain more by joining their efforts. Certain Humming-Birds lie in wait -near plants which by their nectar-sweets attract swarms of insects, and -hard by, Snakes lie in wait for the Birds. The Birds rid the plants -of destroying pests; the part of the Snakes in a beneficent scheme of -existence is not so apparent, but merely because we cannot see good in -a thing is no argument that it does not exist.</p> - -<p>Many of the most important alliances of plants are made in response -to the law that “Nature abhors perpetual self-fertilization”. This -principle is one of the greatest in plantdom; there is a constant -necessity for the intercrossing of independent life-streams. The plants -go to great lengths to see that the multiplication and evolution of the -species is properly carried on.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</span></p> - -<p>We always associate Bees and flowers, yet it is probable, that, as a -whole, the plants, especially in the tropics, depend more upon Ants -than upon any other insects. Many vegetable folk deliberately employ -them to keep their leaves and stalks free of obnoxious visitors. The -Cow-Horn Orchid, like most plants which perch on trunks and branches, -produces pseudo-bulbs into which its vitality can recede in dry -seasons. There is always a small opening at the bottom of each of these -little tubes, through which Ants enter. They honeycomb the interior -with cells and galleries where they can be perfectly dry in the wettest -weather. On the approach of Caterpillars, Cockroaches and other Orchid -enemies, the residents issue in great swarms to protect their combined -host and home.</p> - -<p>The species <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Coryanthes</i>, instead of pseudo-bulbs, grows great -masses of fibrous aerial roots among which the Ants dwell. They are -ever ready to repel invasions of Cockroaches and other crawlers who -seek to eat the tender growing root-tips.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</span></p> - -<p>An Epiphyte which is particularly solicitous for the welfare of its -insect allies is the Ant-nest Plant, <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Rubiaceae Myrme</i>. This -ingenious creature not only builds nests but builds them made-to-order. -Certain enlargements on its stem are hollowed out into chambers with -connecting galleries quite ready for their intended tenants. All the -Ants have to do is to move in. The kind that usually enter the plant’s -service are fierce warriors, <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Iridiomyrmex Myrmecodiae</i>, with very -powerful stings. They form a formidable bodyguard.</p> - -<p>Sometimes the Ant warriors of such compacts are quite satisfied to -accept the free rental of their snug quarters as sufficient pay and -seek their food elsewhere. More frequently, the alliance includes -“board and lodging” with the plant issuing wages in the form of nectar, -sweet pulp and other food.</p> - -<p>The Cherry and Vetch are among plants which secrete a candy-like -substance on their stalks which serves as an allurement for Ants to -climb and establish their homes there. In many cases, these excretions -are also barriers which prevent the Ants from hunting among<span class="pagenum" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</span> the -plant’s blossoms for honey, as they would thus destroy the precious -grains of pollen.</p> - -<p>The South American Imba-uba Tree, Cecropia, has a hollow trunk in which -Bees and Ants dwell together amicably. The Polygonums Tree of the same -continent has so many Ant allies that it is often entirely hollowed -out by them. The process often operates so far that men break off the -smaller twigs and use them as ready-made pipe stems. The Melastroma -Plant of South America provides pouches on each leaf-stalk for the -benefit of its black guardian Ants. The Tococas and Mermidones also -have Ant-sacs.</p> - -<p>In China it is a common practice of the Orange-growers to encourage -the visitation of non-vegetarian Ants by placing selected species on -trees and connecting the trees by bamboo poles over which the faithful -insects can rush their forces to particularly threatened points.</p> - -<p>Everyone knows of the large part the industrious Bee plays in the -economy of the plant world. Few plants, there are, which are not aided -in their love-making by this tiny brown<span class="pagenum" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</span> buzzer; some flowers depend -upon him entirely in their efforts to propagate the species.</p> - -<p>The Bees and their relatives are particularly welcome to the flowers -because they do the work of fertilization so well. Wingless insects -are undesirable because they offer little guarantee that they will -successfully carry pollen to some other flower of the same species. -Even if it is not brushed off in the course of their laborious travels, -they are not at all particular what kind of flowers they visit and so -offer small hope of carrying pollen to its correct destination. Flying -insects of the Bee family seem to have the work of cross-fertilization -directly assigned to them. On each of their separate, pollen-gathering -journeys, they are partial to one particular kind of flower. As they -flit from blossom to blossom of the same species, going in and out of -flower and flower, rubbing against a group of stamens here and brushing -against a pistil there, they fertilize plant after plant in grateful -acknowledgment of the store of sweets they are collecting.</p> - -<p>Many and ingenious are the methods which flowers adopt to make sure -that only invited<span class="pagenum" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</span> and useful guests come to their nectar-feasts. The -very Ants which guard the lower portions of a plant so well, might -become mere greedy plunderers, if allowed to crawl within the flowers. -It is not often that they do. Sometimes, the stalks and even the petals -of flowers like the Rock-Lichens and the Butter-Wort are coated with -some plant chemical exceedingly disagreeable for an insect to crawl -over. Various alkaloids, resins and oils in the cell juices also make -the flower and its leaves obnoxious to grazing animals. Many plants, -like the Mullein and Stinging-Nettle, use bristles and prickles to -repel Slugs and Caterpillars.</p> - -<p>A common protective device is for a flower to place its nectar at the -bottom of a long, narrow tube only accessible to a flying insect having -a proboscis. In the <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Antirrhinum</i> the entrance to the flower is -closed to small crawlers by a very heavy corolla. Bees, because of -their size and strength, can force their way through. It is said that -as soon as the stigma of this flower has been fertilized, the corolla -relaxes and Ants and their kind are free to enter and partake of such -dainties as are left.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</span></p> - -<p>Nettles, Passion-flowers, and Lilies frequently line their interiors -with stiff, in-pointing hairs which oppose a most effective palisade -against anything that crawls, whereas a flyer provided with a proboscis -can stand on the edge and, inserting his straw, drink up the best soda -water in plantdom. This existence of proboscides in insects which help -to cross-fertilize flowers is the very finest example we have of true -mutualism. Here is a case where members of two supposedly different -worlds of life have developed highly specialized organs in order that -they might help each other.</p> - -<p>It is said that Charles Darwin, after noting the extraordinary length -of the spur of the Orchid <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Angraecum Sesquipedale</i> of Madagascar -predicted that some day there would be found in that country a moth -with a proboscis ten to eleven inches long. Not many years after, <abbr title="doctor">Dr.</abbr> -Fritz Müller verified the sagacity of the famous scientist by finding -an insect exactly answering this description.</p> - -<p>The Birth-Wort (<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Aristolochia Clematitis</i>) takes no chances with -its insect visitors. In entering it, a Bee brushes easily by the -down-pointing<span class="pagenum" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</span> hairs only to find that, when he attempts to go out -again, the bristles present stiff, unyielding obstacles against his -egress. In his excitement at this discovery, he buzzes around quite -angrily and, without noticing it, thoroughly showers the stigma with -pollen and incidentally covers his own body with a good supply to be -carried on to the next stop. When this process is quite complete, the -flower graciously relents, relaxes its hairs and allows the exasperated -insect to escape.</p> - -<p>The <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Pedicularis</i> family uses similiar coercive methods, and -by sharp teeth, forces insect-visitors to take a course through the -flowers which brings them in contact with both stamens and pistils.</p> - -<p>The purple Loosestrife, pretty dweller by banks and meadows, sets a -rich table and so always has plenty of insect visitors. It produces six -different kinds of yellow and green pollen, and is therefore sure to -suit every taste. Incidentally it has two different sets of stamens and -stigmas of three different lengths.</p> - -<p>Night-blooming flowers only entertain after the sun goes down. All day -long they look<span class="pagenum" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</span> withered and dead, but with the coming of the stars, -they open up to show conspicuous white or light-tinted interiors. A -flower like the Silene also exhales a rich, sensuous odor, which, with -its light colour, serves to attract such insects as are abroad at night.</p> - -<p>Sycamore and Lime trees have humble allies in the tiny mites which live -in the retreats built of hairs to be found at the places where the -veins of the leaves fork. During the day they hide away from sight, but -at night they come out and scour the leaves clean of noxious bacteria -and fungus spores.</p> - -<p>Pollen of different plants, when examined under the microscope, reveals -wonderful facts about the reciprocal relations which exist between -plants and insects. Wind-fertilized plants are nearly always without -any special beauty of form, colour or scent, while plants which are -fertilized by insects are most always conspicuous, brightly coloured -and highly scented. In the same way, pollen of the Hazel, Birch, -and Balsam Poplar, which is carried by the wind, is small, light, -practically spherical and devoid of protuberances. Pollen of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</span> -Primrose, Cowslip and Polyanthus, often carried by insects, is deeply -furrowed, covered with spines and knobs, strung together by sticky -threads and, in other ways, provided with apparatus which enables it to -adhere to any object which it touches.</p> - -<p>The pollen of the Hollyhock and the Dandelion consists of large, -beautiful, spherical grains covered with spikes. The Rhododendrons, -Azalias, and Fuchsias produce great masses of grains bound together by -viscid threads. Many of these bits of life-principle are geometric -masterpieces. A pollen grain of the <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Cobaea Scandens</i> is one of -the most fascinating objects of the microscopic world. It is perfectly -spherical and cut into small hexagonal facets like the eyes of a fly. -Grains of pollen of all kinds vary between one two-thousandth and one -two-hundredth of an inch in diameter.</p> - -<p>Alliances between plants and birds are more important than we imagine. -The tropical Humming-birds and the eastern Sun-birds are in habits -exactly like the pollen-carrying insects. To watch one of these -brilliantly coloured creatures hovering over a flower or flying<span class="pagenum" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</span> -directly into a blossom after nectar, is to almost always mistake it -for a Butterfly.</p> - -<p>Many birds are invaluable allies of the plant world. They devour -thousands of leaf-eating insects per day and so keep down the army of -enemies which would otherwise destroy whole forests. Birds like the -Woodpeckers rid tree bark of wood-boring crawlers.</p> - -<p>In the human world every partner does not always live up to his -agreements. And there are evidences that both plants and their allies -sometimes engage in questionable practices, bordering on deception and -chicanery.</p> - -<p>The insects are often enough the offenders, and their crime is most -frequently one of robbery. If they can get the sweets they are -after without carrying out their share of the bargain, they will do -so. Bumble Bees have been observed to cut through the flower-walls -of a Nasturtium and so extract its nectar without coming near the -pollen-producing stamens. Sweet Peas frequently ignore the insects and -fertilize themselves. The Hawkweed (<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Hieracium</i>) has so little -faith in insect allies that it produces<span class="pagenum" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</span> seeds parthenogenetically, -that is, without the union of sex elements.</p> - -<p>Alliances which start out advantageously for both parties sometimes -degenerate into mere sinecures for one or the other. The naturalists -Ihering, Ule and Fiebrig, working in South America, a few years ago -concluded that the association of the plant Cecropia and the Aztecan -Ants, long regarded as a classic example of mutualism, is by far of -greater benefit to the Ants. The openings which the Ants make into -the hollow interiors of this plant also allow the entrance of certain -destructive insects, and the Ants themselves attract Woodpeckers which -damage the plants. It is also alleged that these same Ants, and the -ones which inhabit the <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Humboldtia Laurifolia</i>, are often so -busy feasting on nectar that they do not stop to repel invasions of -foliage-destroying insects.</p> - -<p>While man is the greatest enemy of the plant world, he is also at times -its greatest friend. When it is to his advantage or when he is prompted -by a sincere love of Nature, he becomes a strong and helpful ally. He -aids his fellow creatures of the vegetable world when<span class="pagenum" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</span> they are sick or -injured and, by improving their environment and protecting them from -attack and danger, enables them to develop to best advantage. A wizard -like Luther Burbank helps them in their efforts at race improvement and -development.</p> - -<p>In Egypt and Arabia, man has acted as carrier of pollen for centuries, -and has thus insured an abundant Date crop. The same thing is often -done in other parts of the world with Apples, Pistachios, Melons, -Cucumbers and other plants having unisexual flowers.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI<br /><span class="small"><span class="smcap">Marriage Customs of Plants</span></span></h2> -</div> - -<p class="poetry"> -<span style="margin-left: 6em;">“<i>Pale primroses</i></span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>That die unmarried.</i>”—<i>Shakespeare</i></span><br /> -</p> - - -<p>“Love consumes the plants” once wrote Linnaeus, and the observation of -every student of Nature goes to confirm his statement. The plants marry -and are given in marriage. Reproduction is undoubtedly their chief end -in life.</p> - -<p>The simplest and most primitive plants have no sex but produce new -individuals by splitting their single cells in two. It is in the -thread-like bodies of Pond Weeds that we find the first beginnings of -the principle of generation by union. These lowly creatures consist of -single cells strung end to end like beads in a necklace. When two of -the living chains happen to find themselves parallel to each other, -certain of the cells reach out and join those opposite them to form new -cells. Such a mixture of life forces is always beneficial to the race.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</span></p> - -<p>In the higher plants the same process is carried out in a little more -elaborate way. Of the two cells which unite, one is small and active, -and is called the male or pollen cell. The other is larger, richer and -more passive, and is the ovule or female cell.</p> - -<p>It is one of the main objects of each plant’s life to see that its -ovules are fertilized by pollen grains from some other member of -the same species. When this is impossible, flowers are reduced to -fertilizing themselves, but if this continues very long, degeneracy is -very apt to result. It is not wise to marry one’s first cousin.</p> - -<p>Many plants depend upon the wind to distribute their pollen. Such -species bear slight, inconspicuous flowers which not infrequently -cluster together in long, pendent catkins. This was undoubtedly the -first and original form of plant marriage. Though often successful, it -is very wasteful and undependable. “The wind bloweth where it listeth” -and loses a million grains of pollen for every one it lodges.</p> - -<p>One hazy day in the long ago, some plant had a brilliant idea. “There -are a number of insects which are in the habit of paying me<span class="pagenum" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</span> unwelcome -visits for the purpose of eating pollen. Why can’t I make use of these -thieves and turn their marauding habits to my own advantage?”</p> - -<p>No sooner said than done, though it doubtless took many centuries -to get the plan in thorough working order. It was a new departure -in the plant world and led to various revolutionary changes. In all -probability, there were no bright-hued flowers before the advent -of pollen-eating insects. In the beginning, at least, flowers were -developed as the signs by which plants advertised their wares. “We will -make ourselves luringly attractive,” reasoned the plants. “We will add -to our bright-coloured petals the sweet delights of nectar and honey. -While the insect is eating at our table, we will shower his back with -pollen and, going forth to some floral neighbour, he will unwittingly -become the marriage priest of our race.”</p> - -<p>This was the idea, and in many diverse and wonderful ways the plants -have carried it out. The first flowers were developed by training -certain stamens to flatten and expand themselves, daub their surfaces -with colour, and so<span class="pagenum" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</span> become petals. This evolutionary fact can be -seen today in the white Water Lily, where concentric rows of stamens -gradually merge into petals. Double Roses and Poppies are examples of -the same thing.</p> - -<p>The formation of flowers was only the first step. It is not enough to -get the insect to come to the plant. Once he is there, means must be -found to make sure that he performs the marriage duties assigned to -him. Each flower takes care of this problem in a different way.</p> - -<p>At ordinary times, the Gorse is a closed flower, provided, however, -with a little step or platform on which a Bee can alight. As soon as -an industrious honey-seeker has settled down on this little floral -porch, his pressure causes the entire corolla of the flower to spring -violently open and shower him with pollen. A Gorse flower which has -thus unburdened itself at once hangs down dejectedly and is no longer -the object of insect regard. The Lupine and the English Bird’s-Foot -Trefoil entertain their tiny visitors in a similiar way.</p> - -<p>There are two different arrangements of sexual organs in the Primrose. -One variety is<span class="pagenum" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</span> provided with long stamens and a short pistil. The -other has the reverse combination of short stamens and a long pistil. -In both cases, the nectar is in a pit at the bottom of the flower. As -long as an insect visits short-stamened flowers, he collects pollen on -the upper part of his proboscis. Happening to enter a short-pistiled -flower, this portion of his drinking tube is now opposite the -female organ and fertilizes it. In the same way, the insect’s feet -gather pollen from the long-stamened flowers and deposit it in the -long-pistiled variety. By such involved methods does this particular -flower make sure of fertilization.</p> - -<p>Sage flowers have only two stamens but they do the work of forty. Using -their power of movement, they bend forward and deliberately embrace a -bee as soon as he enters their chamber. They do not release him until -he is covered with their yellow pollen.</p> - -<p>The English Figwort has adopted repulsive methods of entertainment. -It has contrived to make itself look like and give forth the odour of -decaying meat, because it knows that it will thereby attract certain -Wasps. The South African<span class="pagenum" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</span> Stapelia does the same thing with the idea of -alluring Carrion Flies. Still another imitator of similiar kind is the -pale-green Carrion Flower whose visitor is the Blow Fly.</p> - -<p>When in repose, the stamens of the pink-white Mountain Laurel -(<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Kalmia Latifolia</i>) curve so that their anthers or pollen-bags -fit into corresponding pits or depressions in the petals. When a Bumble -Bee happens along and blunders among these delicate organs, the stamens -spring up and shower his back with pollen.</p> - -<p>Everyone is familiar with the purple barber pole of the Cuckoo Pint -which stands up straight out of a pulpit-shaped leaf. This barber pole -is the upper end of a fertilizing device of marvelous efficiency.</p> - -<p>Down in the shelter of the cup-shaped leaf, the pole is covered with -primitive male flowers, without petals or without sepals, in fact, -nothing more than simple stamens. Below them are rudimentary female -flowers consisting of unadorned pistils. Certain Midges and Flies are -attracted into the leaf cavity of the plant by the store of sweets at -its bottom. Traveling down<span class="pagenum" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</span> the pole, these would-be feasters readily -pass the guardian hairs just above the stamens, pass the stamens -themselves and unintentionally fertilize the pistils with pollen they -have picked up on other marauding expeditions. Having partaken of -honey, the Flies seek to escape, but now find the way barred by the -down-pointing hairs which have bristled up in a militant manner. The -insects must stay until the plant decides to release them, which is -never until the stamens have ripened and showered them with a fresh -supply of pollen.</p> - -<p>The Orchids are among the most beautiful and extraordinary flowers -in the world. Their noteworthy development has come about through -their efforts to secure abundant and efficient insect fertilization. -So certain are their methods that they ordinarily do not require the -services of more than one stamen.</p> - -<p>In one variety, the English Spotted Orchid, the pollen is enclosed in -two sacks or bags provided with long stems. These sacs are lodged in -special cavities near the pistil in such a manner that the sticky ends -of the stems come in contact with the head of a nectar-sucking Bee.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</span> -They adhere firmly. When he departs he has two bulbous ornaments for a -crest. At first they stand erect, but as he flies, the air dries them -and they incline forward on curved stems. When he is ready for his -next cup of honey, they are hanging down in front of his eyes like a -new kind of pawnbroker’s sign. It is no mere happenstance that in this -new position the pollen sacs are deposited on the stigma of the second -flower’s pistil. By such ingenious marriage customs, the Orchids have -become a dominant family in plantdom. They are in the ascendency even -in the tropics, where their frail bodies have to compete with hosts of -plants which are physically much more vigorous.</p> - -<p>Between the Yucca and the Yucca Moth exists a wonderful life-long -partnership for the purpose of furthering the reproductive processes of -both. Surely, Nature moves in mysterious ways.</p> - -<p>Insects are the chief marriage priests of the plant world, but in the -tropics they are aided and abetted by Humming-Birds, Sun-Birds and -Lories, which are all provided with long, tubular tongues.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</span></p> - -<p>Most insects act as if they were unaware of the important place they -occupy in plant hymeneals. So intent are they on their honey-gathering -that they become covered from head to foot with pollen without -appearing to notice it. Yet in a few instances, the Bees not only -recognize that they have been pressed into the plant’s messenger -service, but by underhand methods seek the rewards of labour without -giving adequate return. They have learned how to cut a hole in the -calyx tube of the Bean and the Scarlet Runner, and get at the precious -honey by short cut. If all Bees and other fertilizing insects should -master this trick, the flowers would have to wear defensive armour or -perish.</p> - -<p>Pollen to be effective must remain dry. The plants have perfected many -devices to shield it from moisture. Frequently, the flowers hang so -that their petals act as tiny umbrellas for it. Others wear rainy day -hoods, and practically all close when the night mists are abroad.</p> - -<p>The necessity for dry pollen obtains even among the water plants. If -they are surface-floaters like the Pond Lily or the Victoria Regia,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</span> it -is easy enough for them to thrust their blossoms up into the air, where -they may be as dry as though they were on land. The sub-aqueous plants -have a harder problem and are sometimes driven to developing their -flowers in leaf air-chambers below the surface. The Water Chestnut -(<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Trapa Natans</i>) makes itself buoyant at its flowering period with -generated air and rises en masse to the surface. After fertilization, -it sinks again to its sub-aqueous quiet.</p> - -<p>Self-fertilization in its strictest sense occurs within the -individual flower. Plants only resort to it as an extreme measure -and commonly make use of many devices to prevent it. In the Iris, -the petal-like stamens are in direct contact with the pistil and yet -self-fertilization does not result, because the pollen surface is -always carefully turned away from the ovary.</p> - -<p>By bringing their pistils and stamens to maturity at different times, -many flowers make sure that they will not fertilize themselves. Such is -the case in the Bulbous Buttercup and the Arrowhead.</p> - -<p>Flowers of the same tree or bush might be called distant cousins. Their -union results in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</span> healthy offspring, though the marriage of still more -divergent individuals is preferable. Plants like the Begonia, which -bear single-sex flowers, often grow in somewhat isolated positions and -so must intermarry a great deal among themselves. Staminate flowers at -the top of a stalk can shower pollen over many female flowers growing -below them.</p> - -<p>The exception always proves the rule, which explains why we find a -few flowers which deliberately choose to fertilize themselves. In -the Fuchsia, the flower droops, throwing the long pistil below the -stamens, which can readily drop pollen onto it. Minute hooks hold -the petals of the Indigo and Lucerne partly closed until the flower -is completely developed. When they give way, the petals fly back, so -shaking the whole flower that the anthers shower pollen on the pistil. -The single-sex flowers of the Aloe bend near each other at mating time.</p> - -<p>The Violets and Polygalas are also largely self-fertilizing. They are, -therefore, borne under the leaves or close to the ground, where they -attract little attention.</p> - -<p>The love and marriages in plantdom may<span class="pagenum" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</span> seem to be largely instinctive -and mechanical, but that is probably because we have not investigated -them sufficiently. The Persian poet Osmai believed that the plants had -affairs of the heart as real as those recorded in the human world. Here -is his account of one:—</p> - -<p>“I was possessor of a garden in which was a Palm Tree, which had every -year produced abundance of fruit; but two seasons having passed away -without its affording any, I sent for a person well acquainted with the -culture of Palm Trees, to discover for me the cause of the failure.</p> - -<p>“‘An unhappy attachment,’ observed the man, after a moment’s -inspection, ‘is the sole cause why this Palm Tree produces no fruit.’</p> - -<p>“He then climbed up the trunk, and looking around, discovered another -Palm at no great distance, which he recognized as the object of my -unhappy tree’s affection; and he advised me to procure some of the -powder from its blossoms and to scatter it over the branches. This I -did; and the consequence was my Date Palm, whom unrequited love had -kept barren, bore me an abundant harvest.”</p> -<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img006"> - <img src="images/006.jpg" class="w50" alt="FLORAL OFFERINGS IN A MOUNTAIN CATHEDRAL" /> -</span></p> -<p class="center caption">FLORAL OFFERINGS IN A MOUNTAIN CATHEDRAL<br /></p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII<br /><span class="small"><span class="smcap">Art in the Plant World</span></span></h2> -</div> - - -<p class="poetry"> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">“<i>As if the rainbows of the fresh mild spring</i></span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>Had blossomed where they fell.</i>”</span><br /> -</p> - - -<p>The plants are perfect artists. From the budding of the Rose to the -sudden shooting forth of the seeds of the Wistaria, everything they do -is in perfect taste. Ugly flowers are decidedly uncommon. Those which -human judgment declares to be less lovely than their fellows have their -attractive points, if we take the trouble to look for them. If art is a -desire for beauty, a searching after perfect harmony, then the plants -and flowers are the most artistic creatures in the universe.</p> - -<p>Plant colours are particularly interesting. The flowers are -master-craftsmen when it comes to the adornment of dainty, delicate -petals with pigments which are the distilled essence of a thousand -rainbows. No other quality in the natural world gives man a deeper -emotional enjoyment. Floral colours speak a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</span> whole language of their -own of which we can get only faint interpretations.</p> - -<p>Cold biologists explain that the beautiful hues and shades of plantdom -are largely designed to attract insects and so secure a necessary -distribution of pollen. There is no doubt that this is true, but for -one to believe that this is the sole function of a flower’s beauty is -to reduce the world to a materialistic basis and banish all thoughts of -the esthetic, the spiritual and the ideal. The flowers are permitted to -adorn themselves in bright raiment at least partly in order to satisfy -the universal craving for the delicate and the artistic.</p> - -<p>It should not be imagined that the gayest and most brilliantly coloured -members of the plant world are always residents of the tropics. The -hot countries undoubtedly produce many specimens of startling hue and -pattern, but it is often their ostentation and exotic character, rather -than their beauty or charm, which attract attention. They are apt to be -a bit barbaric and not as numerous as they are reputed to be. For great -masses of beautiful flowers, we do not go to Mid-Africa or Cuba, but -to the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</span> mountain-bound meadows of the Alps, the plains of Australia, -or the prairies of America. What is more startlingly beautiful than -a field of Yellow Buttercups or Black-eyed Susans which can be seen -anywhere in the eastern United States? Where can our eyes feast upon a -more wonderful scene than a field of Wild Verbenas and Delphiniums as -found in Texas? In the tropics the flower masses are more scattered. -Even the far-famed Orchids are only abundant in occasional favoured -spots.</p> - -<p>The gardens of our large country estates offer floral displays which -cannot be rivaled anywhere. Our temperate zone Roses, Peonies, -Hollyhocks, Wistaria, Lilacs, Lilies, Tulips, Hyacinths, Gentians, -Asters, Anemonies and Poppies are the most delicate colour creations -in existence. For brilliance and alluring charm nothing surpasses the -Mountain Laurel and Rhododendrons of the East, or the Trumpet Vine -and Yellow Jessamine of the South. The gorgeous Azalias, Camellias, -Pelargoniums, Calceolarias and Cinerarias also belong to the regions -which have cold periods in their annual weather schemes. Even the -humble Gorse is<span class="pagenum" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</span> clothed in gold, while the prickly and much-despised -Cactus bears little crimson-coloured bells.</p> - -<p>It is quite evident that man got his original idea of colour from -Nature, particularly the plant world. Why is it that we are inclined -to wear green in spring, brown in autumn, and all manner of colours in -summer? Simply because, consciously or unconsciously, we are imitating -Nature. We take pigments and dyes and get a pale similitude of an -exquisite flower. If it happens to be a Rose, we name the colour after -it. Sometimes we name tints after the sky or an animal or a bird, but -in these cases, we might just as well have gone to the flowers for our -nomenclature.</p> - -<p>Every tint and hue which we can ever hope to reproduce is present in -the plant world. The flowers by no means monopolize them. On close -examination, a single stalk and leaf exhibit a wonderful variety of -colour. In the Begonia and the Sea Holly, the stalks are exactly the -same colours as the flowers. The wild Cranesbill sports a crimson -stem. The stalks of Poplar leaves are a vivid yellow. To speak of -“green<span class="pagenum" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</span> leaves” is to speak in the most general of terms. What is -more exquisite than the silver gray to be seen on the backs of many -tree-leaves, notably the Alders, Willows, and Poplars? Many leaves join -the Wild Lettuce in having purple backs. The reverse sides of Magnolias -and Rhododendrons are red-brown. In the autumn, nearly all leaves show -brilliant patches of colour.</p> - -<p>In borrowing Nature’s colours to set forth our ideas, we have become -possessors of a mighty vehicle of expression. With yellow, we can speak -of life, light, cheer and vitality. Red tells of fire, heat, blood, -excitement and passion. Blue indicates coolness, quiet and restraint. -In choosing green for its most universal colour, Nature harmonizes life -and restraint, warmth and coolness, as represented by the component -blue and yellow. In the same way, when she wants to concentrate the -maximum colour power in a single fruit or flower, she uses orange, -a combination of light and heat, vitality and excitement. Purple -represents a neutralized idea. Red vitality is tempered with blue -restraint, which results in mysticism.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</span> Nature clothes the Poppy in red -to suggest power and strength. The royal purple of the Aster and the -Violet is purposely calculated to arouse a feeling of mystery and awe.</p> - -<p>Our man-made cloth designs often show various plant forms intact in -the weave. The same is true of lace, while one has only to look at the -miniature flower gardens which women wear on their heads to realize the -potent influence of plants in the domains of millinery. An important -plant element seems to run through many fields of applied art.</p> - -<p>In some ways, the beauties of form and structure are more appealing -than chromatic charms. Lines are more refined and fundamental than -colours. A feathery mass of tree-twigs seen against a distant horizon -is exquisitely beautiful. A symmetrically shaped tree comes very -close to presenting an idea of pure form. One may argue that it is -impossible to dissociate all idea of colour from a natural object. This -is theoretically true, but practically, while we are impressed by the -colour of the Rose, it is the structural beauty of the Palm and Weeping -Willow which attracts our eye.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</span></p> - -<p>Nature is the true and original sculptor. From her we learn our rules -of symmetry and design. All her plant creations are finished with a -faithfulness to artistic principles which is quite exact. Nor does -she build houses with false exteriors. Her structures show forth the -necessity of truth in real esthetic creation. Bartholdi’s exquisite -Statue of Liberty, viewed from the interior, is an ugly, hollow tube. -A stalk of corn not only has a pleasing exterior but is made up of -symmetrically formed and packed interior cells. From a giant Redwood to -a microscopic vegetable organism, every line and structural unit in the -plant world is perfect in its inception and execution.</p> - -<p>Each plant, viewed as a whole, has its own peculiar style of structural -beauty—the variation of line and form which stamps it with charm. -This differentiation extends to all parts of the plant and gives -character to leaves, stem, flowers and fruit. Marvellous is the art -worked out in the minute parts. The tendril of the Passion Flower, -the radicle of a Seedling Maple, the feathery hair on a stalk of -Mullein—all these are shaped according to the unknown<span class="pagenum" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</span> law of beauty. -Probably every geometrical form exists in some seed pod or fruit. The -artistic little seeds of the Milkweed and the Dandelion are packed into -their containers with a skill which cannot be duplicated, once they -are dislodged. There are a million seeds in the capsules of certain -Orchids. Many seed vessels are tipped, balled, carved and frescoed.</p> - -<p>The same delicate touch is seen down to the last cell. Plant stems -range from the common tubular variety to four-sided, hexagonal and -octagonal forms. Trees exhibit exquisite mosaics in their rough -bark. Bell-shaped flowers and flowers which are tubes, rings, ovals, -trumpets, horns, and cones are only some of the pleasing shapes to be -found in this part of vegetable anatomy.</p> - -<p>It is a significant thing that there are few straight lines in -plantdom. Everything is built in fascinating and alluring curves. -There is a definite idea of symmetry to be observed everywhere. The -beautiful, five-pointed, leaves of the Sweet Gum Tree are arranged so -that each one fits into an interstice between two others and so obtains -a maximum supply of air<span class="pagenum" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</span> and light. In general, leaves nearest the -ground are largest, thus insuring each its supply of sunshine.</p> - -<p>When we study ornamental design, ancient and modern, we see plant forms -on all hands. The Greeks and the Moors were the only nations to be -content with geometric shapes and lines—and they were only content at -times. All other peoples have given plants and flowers a large place -in their decorative conceptions. The Egyptians and the Assyrians, -who may be considered the first civilized artists, used the Palm, -Papyrus, Lotus and Lily. The Greeks and Romans were partial to the -Acanthus, Olive, Ivy, Vine, Fir and Oak. The Gothic art of Germany, -France and Spain featured the Lily, Rose, Pomegranate, Oak, Maple, -Iris, Buttercup, Passion Flower and Trefoil. The modern Chinese are -more conservative and seek inspiration only from the Aster and the -Peony. The Japanese use the Almond, Cherry, Wistaria and the graceful -Bamboo in their art work. These various plant forms are sometimes quite -conventionalized but are readily recognizable, whether they occur in -architecture, carvings,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</span> paintings, illuminations, tapestries or cloth -fabrics.</p> - -<p>The plant world has been man’s most constant and readily apprehended -artistic model. Yet when we see the multitude of attractive lines, -curves and shapes in Nature’s great garden, we wonder that he has so -limited his imitation. One rarely sees the Thorn-Apple, the Hawthorn, -the Daisy or the Tulip in wood or stone, yet they are all exquisitely -beautiful.</p> - -<p>Again, artists and artisans throughout the centuries have nearly -always confined themselves to but two phases of plant life—the leaves -and the matured fruit. Tendrils have been neglected or treated with -characterless mediocrity. Thorns, leaf stipules, buds, pods, and leaf -scars have been universally overlooked. Who has ever seen the fruit of -the Rose in ornamental art? Why is it no one has thought to use the -leaf scars of trees like the Horse Chestnut as decorative units?</p> - -<p>Grapes and Pomegranates are reproduced with some justice, but the -various small berries almost always appear as miscellaneous spherical -bodies, whereas they are really greatly<span class="pagenum" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</span> varied. The Snowberry, Privet, -Laurel and Barberry have distinct characteristics of form and shape.</p> - -<p>There are chances for worlds of artistic expression in various seed -pods and fruit vessels. An open Pea Pod occurs in certain Renaissance -ornament. Why not (and this is not intended to be humorous) a String -Bean?</p> - -<p>Even a lowly thing like the scarred stalk of an old Cabbage has a -pattern worthy of imitation. The shields or remains of leaves of former -seasons form an artistic detail of the growing Palm Tree. The Romans -occasionally reproduced them on their columns. Leaf shields are also -met with in Greek border ornament.</p> - -<p>Why must our sculptors represent the various fruits as bursting with -mature mellowness? In many cases, the unripe fruit is artistically more -attractive than when in the later stages of development.</p> - -<p>We rarely think of disease or decay as being pleasing, yet some plants -are artistic even in their dissolution. Certain galls and cankers draw -beautiful designs on the bodies of their victims.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</span></p> - -<p>Everything in plantdom has its own peculiar style of structure and -beauty. All are worthy of imitation and reproduction, provided only it -is done in the right place and the right way. It must be remembered -that, in origin, ornament was first symbolic and then decorative. Real -ornament is never unduly prominent but subordinates itself to the idea -and structure of the whole.</p> - -<p>Man has imitated the plants also in things of a lowlier nature. Cups, -vases, pitchers and other utensils were undoubtedly first suggested by -similar shapes in plantdom. It is not too fantastic to imagine that -the smoking pipe is modelled after the flower known as the Dutchman’s -Pipe. An electric wire running down the chain of a suspended lighting -fixture looks all the world like a climbing vine. Human jewelry has -its prototype among the flowers. Our garden beauties powdered their -faces long before their human sisters ever thought of that method of -self-adornment. It is said that Greek dancers and athletes sometimes -exercised before certain slender plants in order to pattern their -bodies after them.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</span></p> - -<p>We are not all artists or interior decorators, and yet we can all -make use of the artistic possibilities present and inherent in our -plant friends. We can cultivate and further the use of plants and -flowers in and about our homes. Europe is far ahead of us in this -respect. In England, a city house may be ever so frowsy and run-down -but it will be sure to have its well-kept window boxes. The suburban -homes of labourers and other lowly folk are often veritable bowers of -loveliness. The German must have a garden in which to drink his beer. -If there is none handy, he builds one, and cool and delightful he makes -it. In many European cities, all the houses come out to the building -line and even arch the sidewalks. Not a bit of greensward is in sight. -Yet shrubs, flowers and vines spring from every sill and balcony and so -make the streets to blossom as the Rose.</p> - -<p>American cities are too inclined to be barren wastes of brick and -stone, with but scant provision for plant beauty. Even the rich, who -have their elaborate and beautiful country gardens, seem to forget -the plants and flowers when they come to the city. The self-tending<span class="pagenum" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</span> -Ampelopsis and Wistaria vines are the only plants at all common. Our -short summer season and the fact that so many people do not occupy -their city homes in warm weather are a little discouraging, but need -not shake the enthusiasm of any one really interested in plants. For a -few dollars a season florists will assume all care of exterior plants -and vines.</p> - -<p>The man who has a little plot of ground before his door is indeed -fortunate. Even a well-clipped grass lawn is a refreshing asset. Sweet -Peas train well against a wall. Pansies flourish in shady spots and -Nasturtiums wax beautiful where other plants fail.</p> - -<p>A brown stone front, flushed to the sidewalk in the middle of a block, -need not go without floral decoration. Even a terra cotta box on -either side of the entrance is capable of holding much growing joy. -Evergreen shrubs fit well into such surroundings. A window box has -great possibilities. In early spring, Crocus, Narcissus and Hyacinth -flourish in it to advantage. Ivy-Geraniums of smooth waxy leaves and -graceful loose sprays will grow all summer. Vines of various kinds can -be trained<span class="pagenum" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</span> so as to make very effective window screens.</p> - -<p>The subject of home plants is fascinating. It is well to note that it -is not always necessary to go in for the more elaborate varieties. It -is surprising what a delicate and pleasing decoration is made by so -humble a thing as a sprouting Carrot or a Sweet Potato Vine.</p> - -<p>Outdoor and landscape gardening are whole sciences unto themselves. -In general, a Renaissance house looks best surrounded by formal -and well-clipt flower beds. Houses on the Gothic order should have -undulating lawns and irregular groups of shrubs and trees about them.</p> - -<p>Plants and flowers are the first and original artists. Their creations -are our best and most worthy models. We can use them both as examples -to be imitated and beautiful objects with which to surround ourselves. -They are one of our greatest esthetic inspirations.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII<br /><span class="small"><span class="smcap">Music in the Plant World</span></span></h2> -</div> - - -<p class="poetry">“<i>Many voices there are in Nature’s choir, and none but were good to -hear<br /> Had we mastered the laws of their music well, and could read their -meaning clear; <br />But we who can feel at Nature’s touch, cannot think as -yet with her thought; <br />And I only know that the sough of the pines with -a spell of its own is fraught.</i>”</p> - - -<p>Music is a language—a species of soft, dreamy speech which makes up -for its lack of definiteness and precision by a beauty and harmony -which can best be described as divine. Indeed, the ancient Greeks -made music an all-inclusive term for the higher conceptions of life. -Dancing, poetry, and even science were supposed to be under its sway, -while the revolution of the heavenly bodies created that “music of the -spheres” which entertained the gods.</p> - -<p>It would be better for mankind if this sentiment were more popular -today. It is a narrow notion which confines the idea of musical -harmony<span class="pagenum" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</span> to the sounds produced by certain man-made instruments. -Art which is restricted to workings in oil may be very pleasing but -it is also very much limited. Music which is only interpreted on a -violin or a piano falls far short of its grandest possibilities. To -certain minds, the sighing of the wind through a Pine forest is more -exquisitely expressive than a hundred breath-blown symphonies. When men -cannot agree as to what is music among the sounds produced by their -self-created instruments, dare they lightly ignore the many pleasing -sounds which accompany the operations of Nature?</p> - -<p>To an American ear, Chinese singing sounds like squealing and a Fiji -concert like a vociferous boiler factory. Yet a Chinaman or a Fiji -Islander will leave our grandest operatic efforts in disgust, though -he may be pleased with the preceding orchestral tunings. Where are we -to set the standard? Is it not safest to fall back on Nature for our -truest conceptions?</p> - -<p>The real sublimity of Nature lies in her vocalism. A soundless world -would be greatly lacking in charm. The endearing noises of the woods -and the fields often become so familiar<span class="pagenum" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</span> that we fail to notice -their individual merits. Yet they are there. Their sudden cessation -would leave a terrible and unbearable gap. The woods are filled with -gaily costumed feathered minstrels. The meadows are great emerald -stages of song and fancy. The very grass roots are filled with little -insect-fiddlers who chirp cheerfulness. Wind, water and rain all -furnish a grand and beautiful accompaniment.</p> - -<p>Nature sings in the inharmonic scale, that is, a scale which takes in -all intervals. Between the piano notes “C” and “D” lies a great space. -They only represent halting points in the ascent of sound. Just as in -the spectrum there are a hundred variations of shade between blue and -green, so the cultivated human voice can hint at a hundred intervals -between “C” and “D”. Nature uses all the tiny shades of sound there -are, and certain humans have followed suit. To the Arabians, water -“lisps in a murmuring scale.”</p> - -<p>Occasionally, Nature uses the diatonic scale familiar to our western -civilization. When the wind unites its vibrations into the long shrill<span class="pagenum" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</span> -note we call the whistle, it is playing according to our musical rules. -Water, when falling perpendicularly from a great height also gives -forth a long, steady note. Even the rhythmical quality so essential to -good music is not lacking in such phenomena as rain pattering on dry -leaves. This sound has proved unusually appealing to many people. The -Mexicans sometimes attempt to imitate it by means of clay rattles.</p> - -<p>Not only does the countryside continually sing a great symphony, -but each region has its own acoustic properties. While large cities -maintain a discordant and incessant roar, the country is filled with -soft and pleasing voices. Birds, animals, water and wind give forth -quaint musings of the most soothing nature. Once in a while the woods -go on a musical jag and every instrument becomes discordant. Under -the influence of the bright moonlight, the inhabitants of the South -American jungles sometimes seem to go mad. The hoarse roars of the -Tiger mingle with the piercing shrieks of Parrots and the shrill -wailings of Monkeys, while the croaking of Bull Frogs and the dismal<span class="pagenum" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</span> -hoot of Owls is deafening. Jaguars scream as they chase Monkeys through -the tree-tops.</p> - -<p>The various members of the plant kingdom are the principal instruments -upon which the wind plays. Without the obstruction offered by plants, -trees, rocks, and houses, we should not hear the wind at all. The -trees, because of their size and exposed positions, are most noted as -plant-musicians, but the grasses and herbs are also very susceptible to -the caressings of the wind.</p> - -<p>Who has not heard and gloried in the music of the Pines? The sharp -needles of these big conifers seem unusually fitted for esthetic -expression. They are the Aeolian harps of the woods. During a storm, -they sing in a mighty chorus of acclaim. At such a time, the breaking -of many small branches sounds like the snapping of overstrained violin -strings.</p> - -<p>Almost any tree located on a cliff or on the edge of a mountain, -becomes a musician of the first order. It is apt to take on the -sorrowful tendencies of solitude. The weepings, wailings, murmurings, -groanings, sighs and whispers of the universe vibrate through its -branches.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</span> It would seem as if such a tree were trying to express many -mysterious wonders of which man has little knowledge.</p> - -<p>The trees are not altogether dependent upon their leaves for their -music. The barren branches of fall and winter sing in a most attractive -way. Their dry and discarded leaves litter the ground and carry on -crackly songs of their own, or sing as they play tag in whirls of wind. -The Elm is a pleasing autumn singer and the Willows, when covered with -ice, rattle their twigs like a minstrel’s bones. As the winter wind -hums around the Cottonwood Trees, it rocks the seed balls in their -natural cradles with a sighing, crooning sound. This is the way the -Tree sings to her babies! When the wind soughs through a hollow tree, -it produces a ghostly sound suggestive of a mourning or dying person. -A current of air rubbing two boughs together causes a scrunching sound -which sends the shivers up one’s back.</p> - -<p>It is reasonable to believe that every tree and plant has its own -individual voice as set in motion by the wind. A Nature-lover does not -have much difficulty in distinguishing a great many.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</span> The desert Sage -whistles in the wind; the Cedar laughs in the storm; the air rustles -through a Wheat field; an agitated Sugar Cane or Corn field gives forth -a sound like tinkling glass. The noise produced by a high wind in the -Southern Smilax has been likened to a harp struck at random.</p> - -<p>The bursting pods of the Witch Hazel pop gently and the seeds fall -among the dead leaves like so many buck shot; the Oxalis sends forth -its seed-babies with the crack of a pistol shot. Members of the Bean -family moan in the breeze like plaintive violins. The Squirting -Cucumber gurgles not unlike certain frogs. The Sunflower is a -professional drummer who rattles his seeds about in his pods. The -Rattlesnake Iris holds its seed-capsule in such a way that it gives an -excellent imitation of the warning noise of the reptile for which it -is named. Catalpa pods snap like horse-whips, but Cat-Tails sigh like -small reed instruments.</p> - -<p>Early man gained more inspiration and pleasure from the music of the -plants than his wiser but more worldly successors. It is said that the -idea for the first flute was obtained by listening<span class="pagenum" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</span> to the wind sigh -through the Reeds on the shore of a lake. The first stringed instrument -was probably a fibre accidentally stretched across a hollow shell. The -classic Aeolian harp consisted of a wooden frame containing a thin -sounding-board over which were stretched a number of strips of cat-gut. -If placed before a half-open window so that an air current strikes it -sideways, it gives forth a great volume of harmonious notes in several -octaves. This is a clear case of catching the music of the wind. In a -cruder, less harmonious way, the Japanese glass tinklers of our day do -the same thing. The humming of telegraph wires and the strange chirping -of a wireless instrument are also a kind of singing.</p> - -<p>All the plants are not expert musicians, which explains why they often -seek to make up for their own deficiencies by hiring numerous birds and -insects to make melody for them. These musicians are employed in the -truest sense of the word and receive their pay in food, shelter and -protection. In the air and on the ground, by day and by night, they -sing and fiddle for their hosts. The broad leaves of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</span> Water Lily -(<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Victoria Regia</i>) are veritable music schools of Frog practice. -Every voice from croaking bass to youthful tenor is heard! Every tree -has its Frogs and Birds—every bush and shrub innumerable insect -warblers.</p> - -<p>The birds are the plants’ vocalists. Their songs and delightful -twitterings are among the most familiar things in Nature. The music of -the large body of insect-instrumentalists is carried on in such obscure -places, and often so far down among the very roots of the plants, that -a considerable investigation of their methods may not be amiss. They -are especially active after sundown.</p> - -<p>The common Grasshoppers form a great corps of violinists. A large vein -on the inside of their thighs makes an ideal bow. It is roughened not -with resin but by a hundred minute spines. When this vein is rubbed -to and fro on the serrated veins of the insect’s wing-cover, a shrill -tone is produced. Sitting on its haunches, the Grasshopper saws away -with both hind legs at a great rate. The interesting discovery has been -made that the velocity of the strokes increases with the temperature.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</span> -Grasshoppers in large swarms emit a low roar.</p> - -<p>The Locust is a near relative of the Grasshopper. His music is produced -by scraping one wing across the other. The Cricket uses the same -method. When he is a house species, he fiddles in a higher tone. The -gold-green Muskback Beetle is an exquisite violinist. His instrumental -methods are most peculiar. His sharp breast acts as a bow which he -draws across a small group of veins on his wing covers. The resulting -music is so faint as to be almost inaudible.</p> - -<p>To Bees, Wasps, Hornets, Flies and Mosquitoes we may ascribe reed -instruments. They depend upon the rapid vibration of their tiny wings -to get their effects. The respiration openings distributed over the -body of a Bee, by giving resonance to the tone, aid in the process and -turn the whole insect’s body into a small clarionet. The drowsy buzz -of the honey-gatherer is only attained by swinging its wings at the -rate of four hundred vibrations a minute. People who have good ears for -music have observed that the ordinary Bee drones<span class="pagenum" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</span> his song out on G -sharp. The House-Fly is credited with singing at F with a preliminary -grace note on E. Everyone is familiar with the high thin plaint of the -Mosquito.</p> - -<p>There are many drummers in the insect orchestra. The Cicada operates -a small kettle drum. On the front of its body, a tough membrane is -stretched over a small cavity. When set in motion by a special muscle, -it gives out a surprisingly agreeable sound. The Greeks enjoyed this -music so well that they often caged the Cicada much as they would a -bird. In the hatching time of the seventeen-year variety, the energetic -drumming of thousands of the insects rises into a scream which is far -from melodious. Under such conditions, the noise can be heard for half -a mile. Travelers tell of a giant South American species which produces -a drumming which is as loud as a locomotive whistle. An uncanny drummer -is the “Death Watch Beetle.” It uses its head for drumsticks and when -in the wood of furniture often plays a tattoo with considerable skill. -Superstitious people, for no apparent good reason, sometimes insist -this is a warning of impending death. Even the pretty<span class="pagenum" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</span> little Butterfly -on occasion is a drummer. With hooks on its wings, it makes a sharp -crackle, not unlike one of the weird noises sometimes used by human -“traps.” Beetles play the bones.</p> - -<p>The Bamboo Tree is sometimes the possessor of a whole corps of -intelligent and efficient drummers. They attach themselves to the -under side of the leaves, from which vantage-point they strike them -with their heads whenever their services are required. An Ant of the -<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Sumatran</i> species keeps wonderful time. Though spread out over a -number of square yards of leaf space, a group of these tiny creatures -will start and stop tapping at the same instant.</p> - -<p>Perhaps in some far-distant age, mankind will begin remotely to -understand the significance of the music of the plant world and its -allies. We have no right to say that the plants are not true musicians. -While we may only understand their system of harmony in part, we can -realize it contains hidden beauties just as the presence of microscopic -organisms in the world is indicated by their effects rather than by -actual perception.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX<br /><span class="small"><span class="smcap">Science in the Plant World</span></span></h2> -</div> - - -<p class="poetry"> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">“<i>Weak with nice sense, the chaste Mimosa stands,</i></span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>From each rude touch withdraws her timid hands.</i>”</span><br /> -</p> - - -<p>Plants are profound scientists. Their knowledge may not be as broad and -far-reaching as that of man, but they are more successful workers than -he. With all his wonderful discoveries in physics and chemistry, man as -a class has not yet learned to conduct his own body so as to make it -yield the highest efficiency. In fact, members of the human race are -today wearing out their frames at a faster rate than ever before. Adept -at running huge mechanisms of steel, they are neglectful of those most -delicate and wonderful machines which are bound up with their own life -processes.</p> - -<p>Plants are not so prodigal. Whenever they are given a chance, they -develop and expand their powers in the most marvelous way. They bring -out the latent strength in their beings and so conduct themselves as to -conserve their energies.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</span> Whether by instinct, reason or blind force -they always know just what to do and how to make the most of their -heredity and environment. Their efficiency rating is one hundred per -cent.</p> - -<p>As the whole life of all plants is a scientific progression, we can -only consider in the brief limits of this chapter some of the more -startling instances of the marvelous sense they exhibit in dealing with -Nature’s forces.</p> - -<p>Probably one of the reasons we do not always think of plants in the -human, sympathetic way we should, is that we are inclined to regard -them as quiet, static objects, playthings of every wind that blows -upon them. Such is far from the case. Life is motion and the plants -are very much alive and very much in motion. From the tiniest cell to -the largest tree they exhibit constant, pulsating movements. Many of -the movements are described through so small a space as ordinarily to -escape our notice, but a little observation makes them quite apparent. -They all have a well-directed, scientific purpose.</p> - -<p>What is plant growth itself but motion upward<span class="pagenum" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</span> and outward? If a -telescope or an instrument such as Sir Jaghadish Bose’s crescograph -be trained on a healthy plant, it is possible to see the growth -actually take place before the eye somewhat as it is managed in motion -pictures. Travelers aver that if a Banana Plant be cut off close to the -ground and the surrounding soil well supplied with water, the sturdy -creature will make such strenuous efforts to destroy the effects of its -mutilation that its growth may easily be perceived with the unaided -eye, and a full-sized leaf produced in a single day.</p> - -<p>Leaves and flowers are usually quite mobile. When they go to sleep, -they droop and fold their edges together very carefully, sometimes to -such an extent as to make themselves almost invisible. Even such an -astute man as Linnaeus was once completely deceived by some sleeping -specimens of Lotus. They were very fine red flowers and he was proud -of them. Taking a friend to view them one evening by lantern-light, -what was his dismay to find that they had completely disappeared. He -concluded that they had been stolen or eaten by insects and went away, -only to find them in full array<span class="pagenum" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</span> on his return the next morning. It -took several nocturnal visits to unravel the mystery and discover -that the flowers folded themselves and retired so adroitly into the -surrounding foliage each evening that they were completely hidden.</p> - -<p>The Acacia is a plant which closes up at night; the same phenomenon is -very striking in the Oxalis. The common Bean sleeps standing: that is, -its leaves close upward instead of downward. The little blue Veronica -flower, so strikingly brilliant and attractive in the daytime, tucks -itself in so snugly at bedtime that it becomes quite inconspicuous. A -Marigold called <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Calendula Pluvialis</i> even contracts its corolla -every time the sun is veiled by a passing cloud. These sleep movements -all have a scientific purpose. Their main object, just as in animals, -is to reduce bodily activities to a low ebb and so to give the plant a -chance to recuperate for another day’s efforts. The contraction of all -surfaces cuts down the radiation of heat and moisture and presents less -resistance to outside elements. The plant is in a quiescent, somnolent -state.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</span></p> - -<p>There are other movements of leaves and flowers the object of which -is not quite so apparent. For instance, there is the <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Hedysarum -Gyrans</i> or Oscillating Sainfoin. Each of its leaves has three -folioles. The center one is very large and stands bolt upright, -except at night, when it condescends to bend its head in sleep. The -two lateral folioles are in perpetual oscillation both day and night. -Nothing but a very hot sun seems able to stop their movement. Possibly, -this plant is a fresh air fiend which requires a steady atmospheric -flow upon its respiratory surfaces! The two lateral folioles of each -leaf are delegated to act as fans and blow a constant supply of air -upon their majestic brother.</p> - -<p>Similar oscillations have been noticed in some Orchids, where a part of -the flower’s corolla rises and falls with a regular rhythm not unlike -the beating of a human pulse.</p> - -<p>The stamens and pistils of flowers sometimes have the power of -movement. If an insect, wandering about in the flower of the Barberry -Tree (Berberis Vulgaris), happens to touch the base of a stamen, -it bends forward with a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</span> quick, spring-like motion and presently -straightens up again. The evident intent is to shower some pollen on -the little intruder with the hope that he may carry its vital principle -to some neighbour of the same species.</p> - -<p>In the <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Parnassia Palustris</i>, fortunate observers have sometimes -seen the five stamens bend forward and beat on the head of the pistil -in rotation as if on an anvil. Perhaps outside pollen-carrying agencies -have passed this particular flower by and, in desperation, it is -resorting to self-fertilization.</p> - -<p>The <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Junger Mania</i>, a plant allied to the Mosses, shows knowledge -of the laws of mechanics when it uses a natural spring coiled in -a small tube to project its seeds out into the world. Seeds of -fresh-water Algae swim about for a few hours after leaving their -mother-plant, vibrating their cilia with great rapidity. It is the -ability of certain one-celled plants to move about freely which causes -considerable discussion as to whether they are really not animals. -The Diatoms are examples. They propel themselves through the water by -oscillating their whole bodies from side to side. To<span class="pagenum" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</span> reverse their -direction they go backward like a ferryboat.</p> - -<p>The ancients as far back as Aristotle recognized the sensitiveness of -plants to light and their eager use of its life-giving properties. In -fact, one has only to watch the Sun-Flower follow the orb of day across -the heavens to realize that there must be something vital in sunlight -for the plants. What interests us is that they have the instinct or the -knowledge to so present their surfaces to the light that they receive -a maximum benefit from its influences. From the aristocratic indoor -potted plant to the wild trees and shrubs on the edge of a thicket, we -notice a vigorous straining toward the light. Each leaf is tilted at -just the right angle to receive the largest possible share of energy, -for the leaves are starch factories for which the sun furnishes the -motive power.</p> - -<p>Botanists tell us that this heliotropism or turning motion toward the -light is due to the tendency of most leaves to arrange themselves -perpendicularly to the sun’s rays. Tendrils may be apheliotropic or -tend to turn away from the light. Morning Glories or Wistaria, which<span class="pagenum" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</span> -climb up whatever support is handy, exhibit insensibility to light no -matter from what angle it strikes. Stems, flower and leaves of all -plants each give a different and scientific reaction to light in a way -which looks much like directing thought.</p> - -<p>Nothing is more scientific than the skill with which plants co-operate -with gravity in constructing their root systems. The roots are often -trained to grow out horizontally and resist gravity for a certain -distance. Then they gracefully yield to its pulling power, and, curving -their tips downward, grow straight toward the center of the earth. Any -secondary roots which are sent out again start horizontally to repeat -the above process on a smaller scale. All this makes for an efficient, -well-balanced root-system.</p> - -<p>A curious motion which is not thoroughly understood is a slight -gyratory movement observable in the tips of all living plants. It is -possible that it is connected in some way with the earth’s rotation or -is it merely a kind of groping, feeling gesture? In the case of roots, -where the same gyrations occur, it undoubtedly<span class="pagenum" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</span> serves that purpose. A -revolving root tip makes a very efficient drill with which the hardy -plant may bore a way through refractory soil. It is claimed that the -great whirling sweeps made by tendrils of various climbers are merely -amplifications of the circumnutation occurring in all plant terminals.</p> - -<p>Before leaving the subject of scientific movement in the plant world, -it will be of interest to briefly consider some of the vegetable -motions which are called forth by the stimulus of touch. Almost -everyone is familiar with the Sensitive Plant and its double rows of -tiny leaves. Touch any one of them and the whole group will instantly -begin to contract and bend toward the stalk. We say begin, for so -slow is the transmission of the impulse that one can readily see its -progress, as one after another of the leaves respond.</p> - -<p>A motion which has forethought and design behind it occurs in the -leaves of the famous and crafty Venus Fly-Trap. Two sections of -leaves edged with teeth-like nerve-hairs form the two halves of an -enticing-looking bowl and cover. The slightest contact with one of -the delicate<span class="pagenum" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</span> hairs will cause the trap to shut together and imprison -any sweet-toothed member of the insect world which has happened to -stray inside. An aquatic form of the same thing occurs in a species of -Bladderwort which spreads a leaf-net cunningly shaped to look like a -fish’s mouth. Frightened baby-fishes, accustomed to seek their mother’s -throat in time of danger, sometimes swim in and, brushing certain -nerve-hairs near the entrance, cause the lips to close and leave them -to slow dissolution. Both sinister and scientific are the movements of -carnivorous plants.</p> - -<p>Far from being static or quiescent, the plant world is a kingdom of -energetic, vibratory motion—a motion which is cool and calculating -and which rarely fails to accomplish its purpose. Even the protoplasm -of microscopic plant cells is in constant movement. If a thin slice -of Sycamore bark be placed under a microscope, a regular circulation -of cell-liquid, suggestive of blood circulation in animals, can be -observed.</p> - -<p>Plants show great skill in their use of water. It is their storage -of liquid in their cells which<span class="pagenum" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</span> makes their soft bodies rigid and so -makes movement possible. This property sometimes called turgidity -was discovered by the scientist De Vries in 1877, the same year that -Pfeffer established the theory of osmosis. This latter is a phenomenon -which physicists find very difficult to explain and involves the -transmutation of one liquid into another through the medium of an -intervening membrane.</p> - -<p>Some plants have acquired the faculty of storing water in their bodies, -on which, camel-like, they can subsist for long periods of time. A -certain large tree-cactus of the American desert sometimes stores up -as much as seventeen hundred pounds or five barrels of water in the -wet season. When drought comes, its roots dry up and it lives entirely -on its internal resources. It is said that an eighteen-foot specimen -can exist for a year on its stored-up liquid. A branch on such a plant -may live and bloom after the trunk is dead. Many ordinary plants, such -as Turnips, Carrots, and Beets, store water along with starch and -dextrose in their underground tubers. Such subterranean reservoirs are -preferable to those above ground.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</span></p> - -<p>Plants have paid particular attention to the manipulation of gases. -They maintain an internal atmosphere of their own composed of oxygen, -nitrogen and carbon dioxide in proportions varying greatly from those -of the outside air. If the stem of a Water Lily be broken below the -surface of a pond, gas bubbles will often be observed to issue from the -wound, indicating that the internal gas pressure of this particular -plant is greater than that of the external air. In other cases, the -reverse is true and we find partial vacuums within the bodies of plants.</p> - -<p>Man long ago found it impossible to “live on air” but the plants have -solved the difficulty of aerial existence and have become creatures of -the air rather than the earth, so far as their food is concerned. The -great bulk of the largest tree is preponderantly composed of carbon, -which has been slowly and labouriously extracted from the air. The -mineral salts and water which have been filtered out of the ground by -the roots are essential but are present in a much lesser quantity.</p> - -<p>It is well known that plants breathe in carbon dioxide and breathe out -oxygen. This can be<span class="pagenum" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</span> graphically demonstrated by placing a plant in a -glass jar of carbon dioxide inverted in water. If its life processes -are quickened by exposure to sunlight, the plant will replace the CO₂ -with oxygen in a day. A more striking example is furnished by any -aquatic plant accustomed to growing submerged in ponds and rivers. -Placed in a water-filled bottle inverted in a pan of water, it will -generate oxygen so rapidly that the bubbles can be seen forming on -the leaves when the sun is allowed to strike them fully. The bottle -will become filled with oxygen in a few hours, and its presence can be -demonstrated with the usual ember test.</p> - -<p>Opposed to the absorption of carbon dioxide and the breathing out of -oxygen, which is really a digestive operation, the plants, queerly -enough, carry on a directly opposite process which involves the -absorption of oxygen and the breathing out of carbon dioxide. This -is a respiratory process akin to breathing in animals. It is carried -on in such a relatively small way that it does not seriously affect -the statement that “plants breathe in carbon dioxide and breathe -out oxygen” and so are purifiers<span class="pagenum" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</span> of the air which man and animals -contaminate.</p> - -<p>Besides this general use of gases common to nearly all plants, a few -of the members of the vegetable world specialize in the production -of protective and poisonous vapours of various composition. One of -the most interesting of these is the Gas Plant of the South American -jungles. This beautiful white-flowered inhabitant of the tropics is -entirely protected from leaf-destroying insects and birds by the -poisonous vapours it constantly pours forth.</p> - -<p>The plants are expert chemists, and the reactions in which they engage -are, on the whole, much simpler than those which go on in the bodies -of animals. Vegetable tissue is largely carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and -nitrogen. It is a curious fact that instead of using the abundant -carbon compounds present in decomposed animal and vegetable matter of -the soil the plants get most of their carbon from the carbon dioxide -of the air. Inversely, they largely disregard the seventy-eight per -cent nitrogen of the air, and extract that element from the complicated -compounds found in the soil, or take it from the air only by aid of -certain Bacteria.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</span></p> - -<p>Certain plants manufacture lime and metallic oxides with which to -harden the protective armour they wear. Many others generate nitric -acid, carbonic acid and ammonia for use in their interior laboratories. -Roots nearly always secrete a fluid which aids in the absorption of -minerals from the earth. It is so powerful that quartz, flint and -limestone are often scratched and corroded by its action. Above and -below ground, plants are active chemical laboratories.</p> - -<p>The differences of taste, smell and colour which characterize leaves, -blossoms and fruits are due to the presence of various organic -compounds. These are largely volatile oils which are more complex than -the substances involved in the simpler life processes. The slow or -rapid evaporation of these oils influences the strength and character -of an odour. When a flower or fruit passes through infinite gradations -of colour, we can give no adequate account of the chemical changes -involved. All we can do is to observe and to note. Sometimes infusions -of iron sulphate or other chemicals in the soil darken the hues of -flowers. Gardeners profit by<span class="pagenum" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</span> this fact in the cultivation of certain -varieties of Hortensia.</p> - -<p>The chemical activities of plants are of incalculable value to man. -They change air, water and mineral salts into forms easily assimilable -by the human system. Eliminate all the vegetable life from this planet, -and the animals, including man, would perish in a few months. Man has -also learned to make abundant use of plant substances for innumerable -purposes. Potash is an example of how the plants come to our aid in -furnishing us a valuable chemical. It is extracted from wood, Seaweed -and Banana stalks. These plants have discovered a way of getting it out -of its well-nigh insoluble earth combinations with silica. If it had -not been for certain industrious sea plants, man would probably never -have been aware of the important chemical twins, bromine and iodine, so -important in photography. These plants patiently filter them out of sea -water where they exist in microscopic quantities, and build them into -their bodies. Beer is possible because germinating grains transform -amylum or plant starch into sugar. We find ripe fruits palatable<span class="pagenum" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</span> -because their acids change into sugar under the influence of sunlight.</p> - -<p>Man seems to have outstripped the plants in the use of light, heat, -electricity, and other physical forces, but the plants have more -engineers among them than we imagine. In the fact that man has just -learned to extract nitrogen from the air by the agency of electrical -discharges, lies the probable explanation of how the plants have -been doing the same thing for years. It is believed that the minute -electrical discharges continually going on between the different air -strata make small quantities of nitrogen assimilable for the plants. -The micro-organisms which also furnish nitrogenous material to the -plants may get nitrogen from the air in the same way. It is quite -certain that the plants are affected by the chemical state of the -atmosphere.</p> - -<p>Everyone knows what an important part light plays in plant physiology, -but the fact that certain plants produce their own lights, while -generally known, is not universally understood. The Austrian -naturalist, Heller, was the first to demonstrate that the glowing of -decayed<span class="pagenum" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</span> wood at night is caused by emanations of light from Fungus -growing in the cavities. A similiar organism called Luminous Peridineas -(sometimes classed as an animal) is responsible for the phosphorescence -of the ocean and the night lights of many flowers.</p> - -<p>About three hundred species of Bacteria and fifteen species of Fungus -are recognized to be luminous. The dead leaves of the tropical -Banibusa, Nephelium and Aglaia often glow at night with the light of -these tiny creatures. Ordinary dead Oak and Beech leaves are luminous, -sometimes shining in spots, but frequently glowing throughout with a -soft, white, steady light. These miniature incandescent lights often -shine for days, weeks and months, and with abundant nutriment at hand, -sometimes for years. The light is slight in intensity, but uniformly -steady and white, green or blue-green in colour. It is strong enough to -enable the plants on which the Fungus grows to photograph themselves by -long exposure to sensitized plates. The fungus light has also been used -to influence the heliotropic movements of plant seedlings. In fact, a -colony of Fungus has<span class="pagenum" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</span> sometimes been placed in an electric light bulb -and made thus to serve as an illuminant.</p> - -<p>No matter from what angle we study the plants, we find that they are -extremely scientific. They conduct themselves and all their activities -in a way to always get the best results. They show knowledge and -acquaintance with all of Nature’s laws, and they have learned to apply -many of them with startling success.</p> -<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img007"> - <img src="images/007.jpg" class="w50" alt="MODERN NATURE WORSHIPPERS" /> -</span></p> -<p class="center caption">MODERN NATURE WORSHIPPERS<br /></p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X<br /><span class="small"><span class="smcap">Religion in the Plant World</span></span></h2> -</div> - - -<p class="poetry"> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">“<i>Denied in heaven the soul he held on earth.</i>”</span><br /> -</p> - -<p class="ml"> -—<i>Byron</i><br /> -</p> - - -<p>In a sense, the entire plant world is a beautiful and expressive -worship of a bountiful and beneficent Creator. No creed which does not -deny God will fail to see the silent but reverent adoration exhibited -by His handiwork. Every tree which raises its brave crest toward the -heavens, every flower which greets the warming sunlight with a smile, -is a testimony to the omnipotence of divine law. Fully explain the -wonders of a single blade of Grass, and you have solved the mysteries -which underlie the universe.</p> - -<p>Primitive peoples, who are always closely attuned to natural -influences, early discerned the divine thread which runs through all -plantdom. In their incessant search for God, they did not overlook His -manifestations in the plants and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</span> flowers. Along with fire, water, -stars, sun, moon, animals, birds and graven images, our wood-roving -ancestors ascribed supernatural attributes to many trees and flowers. -In various places and at various times, many different plants have been -idolized as the material substance of an ethereal or spiritual being. -Certain plant growths have been repeatedly designated as sacred, and -even in the present day, untutored races have many plant superstitions. -Tree worship was common among the Celts and Teutons. The present day -Christmas tree is a relic of primitive tree veneration. Even the -American Indians worshiped trees at times. Man has been groping for God -all through the ages. His tendency has been to deify those elements -and things which he did not understand or which contained mystery. As -soon as he became acquainted with the causes of these mysteries, the -supernatural collapsed into the natural and he went searching after new -wonders to call God.</p> - -<p>From the beginning of literature, the bards of every land have sung -to and of the flowers; the prophets have used them as instruments for -their sooth-saying; the believer in resurrection<span class="pagenum" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</span> has cited them to -prove a final resurrection for the souls of men; the reincarnationists -have claimed in them a great evidence of the reincarnation of the soul; -the atheist has tried to show through them the validity of his belief; -hero and conqueror have found in them their crowns of glory and the -poet has made them the theme of his pen. Yet the flowers bloom today -much as they did on the hillsides of Greece and Babylon, and man, with -all his century-accumulated wisdom, seems but to have seen the outer -edge of their real lives.</p> - -<p>The superstitious veneration of various flowers is an ancient and -peculiarly charming expression of man’s innate appreciation of the -beautiful. He who condemns as idolaters the flower-worshippers of -ancient ages may well look upon himself with critical eyes. Which is -the better: to pay tribute to the Creator through the adoration of his -beautiful floral children or make cold, glittering gold the ultimate -though unacknowledged goal of this earthly life?</p> - -<p>It is interesting to notice, in reviewing the annals of flower-worship, -that the most fervent<span class="pagenum" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</span> and frequent examples are found in tropical -countries. This is due, no doubt, to the luxuriance of vegetation in -the hot countries, and the fact that, in most cases, flowers are in -bloom there all the year around. Even one trained in a more rigid -faith is tempted to strange reverence when he suddenly comes upon a -great, glowing Orchid, squatting like some beautiful animal on the -shaggy trunk of an aged tree. A Hindu is quite excusable when he -becomes raptly worshipful while paddling through a floating sea of -Lotus-Flowers.</p> - -<p>In heathen mythology, “every flower was the emblem of a god; every tree -the abode of a nymph.” Paradise, itself, was a kind of “nemorous temple -or sacred grove” planted by God himself. The patriarchal groves which -are prominent throughout Biblical history were probably planted as -living memorials of the Garden of Eden, the first grove and man’s first -abode.</p> - -<p>Sacred flowers were common among the Greeks. The Anemone, Poppy and -Violet were dedicated to Venus. To Diana belonged “all flowers growing -in untrodden dells and shady<span class="pagenum" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</span> nooks, uncontaminated by the tread -of man.” The Narcissus and Maiden-Hair Fern were under the special -protection of Proserpina and to Ceres belonged the Willow. The Pink was -Jove’s flower, while Juno claimed the Lily, Crocus and Asphodel.</p> - -<p>The life of Christ flings a bright and illuminating ray of light over -the whole vegetable world. Trees and flowers which have heretofore been -associated with various heathen rites now become connected with holier -names and are frequently made a part of the crucifixion itself. Hosts -of flowers are dedicated to the Virgin Mary, particularly white ones, -which are taken to be emblematic of her purity. Christian worshippers -even went to the classic Juno and Diana, to the Scandinavian Freyja -and Bertha, to obtain flowers to dedicate to her. The Passion Flower -was often taken to represent various incidents connected with the -crucifixion.</p> - -<p>Though the Rose and the Lily are the blossoms which are most frequently -associated with the Virgin, particularly in paintings, there is an -endless list of other flowers of low and high<span class="pagenum" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</span> degree which are either -named after her or thought to be under her influence.</p> - -<p>Orchids are called “Our Lady’s Slipper.” Maiden-Hair is “Virgin’s -Hair.” The Thyme, Woodroof and Groundsel plants are reputed to have -formed the Virgin’s bed. Among fruits the Strawberry and the Molluka -Bean have been set aside for her worship.</p> - -<p>The “Rose of Jericho” is made famous by the Bible. Popular tradition -states that it first blossomed at Christ’s birth, closed at His -crucifixion and reopened at His resurrection. The legend of the -rose-coloured Sainfoin is especially interesting. One of the flowers -happened to be among the grasses and herbs lodged in the manger of the -Christ child. At the presence of that holy form, it suddenly opened its -blossoms to form a wreath for His head.</p> - -<p>A more gruesome tale relates that the Wood-Sorrel, Spotted Persicaria, -Arum, Purple Orchid and Red Anemone owe their dark-stained blossoms to -the blood which trickled from the Cross.</p> - -<p>Among the many theories regarding the identity of the wood of the -Cross, the one about the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</span> Mistletoe is especially fanciful. The -Mistletoe is alleged to have been originally a full-sized tree but -because of its ignoble part in the great Christian tragedy, it was -reduced to its present parasitical form.</p> - -<p>Every saint in the Catholic calendar has his own particular flower, -either because of some incident in his life with which it was connected -or because of arbitrary dedication. Care has been taken to pick flowers -which are in bloom at the time of the festival of the saint which -they represent. In this way, the flowers of the field make a living, -religious time-piece.</p> - -<p>Among the individual sacred flowers, Orchids and Lotus-Blossoms have -probably been known and reverenced as much as any. There is small -wonder that sentiment approaching veneration should exist toward -the Orchids. Their singular beauty and fragrance have compelled the -admiration of all historic peoples. The primitive Mexicans hold them in -very great esteem. The Lotus-Flower, portrayed through all the ages, -on papyrus, paper, silk, stone, and wood, has a world-wide sanctity. -The ancient Egyptians worshipped the Lotus in connection with the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</span> -mysteries of Isis and Osiris. The sculptural remains of the Nile abound -with the sacred plant in every stage of its development, the flowers -and fruit being represented with utmost accuracy. The Brahmans regarded -it as divine and the Hindus used it to decorate their temples and lay -on their religious altars. The Chinese also called it sacred. Brahma, -at his birth, is said to have come forth from the Lotus. Buddha and -other eastern deities, including the Chinese god Pazza, are reported to -have first appeared floating on its leaves.</p> - -<p>Sir William Jones was one time dining on the banks of the Ganges. -Desiring to examine the sacred Lotus-Flower, he despatched some of -his people to procure a specimen. When it was brought, his Indian -attendants immediately fell on their faces in adoration.</p> - -<p>The Yellow Narcissus is a famous fabled flower which originally came -from Palestine. Mahomet once said: “Whoever possesses two loaves of -bread, let him trade one for a blossom of Narcissus, for bread is -nourishment for the body, but the Narcissus for the soul.” The birth -of the Narcissus is narrated thus: In Sussexshire,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</span> England, the good -<abbr title="saint">St.</abbr> Leonhard once battled with a dragon for three whole days. Before -he was able to slay the monster, the doughty warrior was wounded with -consequent loss of blood. God could not bear to see the life fluid of -this holy man spilled heedlessly, so transformed each drop, as it fell, -into a Narcissus.</p> - -<p>“Consider the Lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, -neither do they spin; and yet I say unto you that even Solomon in -all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.” This is a great -tribute to the Lily and it has been similarly praised throughout all -literature. About this lovely flower hang myriads of sacred legends and -such titles as the “symbol of purity,” the “soul of beauty” and “the -symbol of peace.” In the lore of the Greeks and the Orientals, this -matchless flower was hailed with the Rose as the “Queen of Heaven.” -The Venerable Bede called it the most worthy symbol of the Virgin. He -said that its pure white petals represent her undefiled body and the -golden stamens her radiant soul shining with god-like light. Many old -paintings of the Virgin show her with a vase of Lilies by her side.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</span></p> - -<p>The Rose is the universal symbol of royalty. In Greek mythology, it -was the favourite flower of Aphrodite and was represented as springing -from the blood of Adonis. Through all Norse and German mythology is -repeated reference to the “regal beauty” and “queenly mien” of the -Rose. In northern lands, the Rose was under the special protection of -the fairies, dwarves, and elves.</p> - -<p>The “Balm of Gilead” is a well-known sacred plant (<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Balsamum -Judaicum</i>) written of by Pliny, Strabo and Justin and grown in many -parts of the East. It is said to have been first brought from Arabia by -the Queen of Sheba as a gift to Solomon.</p> - -<p><abbr title="saint">St.</abbr> John’s Wort (<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Hypericum Perforatum</i>) was dedicated to <abbr title="saint">St.</abbr> John -because its phosphorescent glow was remindful of the Biblical reference -to him as a “bright and shining light.” Some European peasants still -believe that, if gathered and worn on <abbr title="saint">St.</abbr> John’s Eve, it has the power -of bringing good luck and success.</p> - -<p>The Greeks and Romans used Verbena extensively in their religious -ceremonies, principally because of its wonderful perfume. The<span class="pagenum" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</span> Romans -called it “the sacred herb” and regarded it as an aid in divinations -and omens. On New Year’s Day, it was sent to friends as a token of -greeting. The Roman generals wore a sprig in their pockets as a -protection against bodily injury.</p> - -<p>The Soma or Moon-Plant of India (<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Asclepias Acida</i>) is a climbing -vine with milky juice which is said to confer immortality upon its -admirers.</p> - -<p>Pomegranate was long reverenced by the Persians and Jews as the -forbidden fruit of the Garden of Eden.</p> - -<p>The Indian plant Basil for many centuries has been held in good repute -by the Hindus, having been made sacred to Vishnu.</p> - -<p>Mahomet pronounced Henna, the Egyptian Privet, “chief of the flowers of -this world and the next.” Wormwood was dedicated to the goddess Iris.</p> - -<p>If there are many plants which man’s adoration has made religious, -there are almost an equal number which his suspicion and perversity -have branded irreligious. A famous plant of this kind is the -Enchanter’s Nightshade which<span class="pagenum" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</span> has long been celebrated in the mysteries -of witchcraft. Perhaps its usual place of growth in old graveyards -among decaying bones and mouldering coffins has much to do with the -sinister superstitions and legends connected with it.</p> - -<p>The Belladonna is another plant whose name is often associated with -black magic.</p> - -<p>To this day many Danes believe that the Elder is eternally cursed. -Children who sleep in beds containing Elder wood continually complain -of having their feet tickled and their legs pulled. To carry a cane of -Elder is to invite attacks of slander. Women who have Elder wood in -their houses will never be married. It is the elves who dwell in the -Elder who are supposed to work all this mischief.</p> - -<p>Plants often rise superior to the curse which men place upon them. -Probably every well-known plant, sometime in its history, has had -attributed to it both good and evil. The deity of one nation may become -the demon of another.</p> - -<p>Plant worship holds a more prominent place in the world today than one -would at first thought imagine, and it is not altogether confined to -uncultured peoples. <abbr title="doctor">Dr.</abbr> George Birdwood<span class="pagenum" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</span> tells of remarkable instances -of modern flower worship he saw in Bombay. In describing the Victoria -Gardens, he says: “Presently, a true Persian, in flowing robes of -blue, and on his head his sheep-skin hat, ‘black, glossy, curl’d, the -fleece of Kar-kal’, would saunter in, and stand and meditate over every -flower he saw, and always, as if half in vision. And when the vision -was fulfilled, and the flower he was seeking found, he would spread his -mat and sit before it until the setting of the sun, then fold up his -mat again and night after night, until that particular flower faded -away, he would return to it, and bring his friends in ever-increasing -troupes to it, and sit and play the guitar or lute before it, and they -would altogether pray there, and after praying still sit before it, -sipping sherbet, and talking the most hilarious and shocking scandal -late into the moonlight; and so again and again every evening until the -flower died. Sometimes, by way of grand finalé the whole company would -suddenly rise before the flower and serenade it together, with an ode -from Hafiz, and then depart.”</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI<br /><span class="small"><span class="smcap">Plant Mythology</span></span></h2> -</div> - - -<p class="poetry"> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">“<i>I’ll seek a four-leaved clover</i></span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>In all the fairy dells,</i></span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>And if I find the charmed leaf,</i></span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>Oh, how I’ll weave my spells.</i>”</span><br /> -</p> - - -<p>Every Plant is surrounded by a halo of human thought. If one is -able to discern that halo, he finds a new and fascinating interest -attaching itself to each herb and flower. The most humble of them -become fortune-tellers, luck-bringers, and talismen against evil, as -well as dwelling-places of fairies, elves, imps, and other ethereal -mischief-makers.</p> - -<p>In the childhood of humanity, the earth was a very romantic place. In -addition to the familiar human inhabitants, there were whole races of -supernatural and invisible beings which wielded great influence over -the every-day world of affairs. Every plant was considered good or -evil, according to the character of the spirits which it was believed -to harbour.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</span></p> - -<p>People of this practical age are inclined to look upon these stories -with contemptuous intolerance. “We have outgrown such baby-talk,” they -say, and forthwith relegate whole kingdoms of elfin hosts to their -children’s nurseries, or possibly refuse them their homes entirely. But -to a few discerning minds, these idle dreams of a romantic past offer a -most refreshing contrast to present-day utilitarianism.</p> - -<p>The airy fancies of our forefathers should have a larger share in our -thought today. A single flower myth contains more beauty and enduring -appeal than a hundred steel mills. We must go back to the youth of the -race,—to the time of Shakespeare, Milton, and gentle Ben Jonson,—for -our noblest literature. In those days, men actually believed in -fairies, goblins, and all the rest, and were probably better for having -done so. We, with our broader intellectual outlook, can congratulate -ourselves that we have advanced beyond such things, but still -appreciate their spirit and their beauty.</p> - -<p>In studying plant mythology, it is interesting to notice that certain -traditions and legends are to be found in all parts of the world -and in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</span> many widely separated localities, forming, as it were, the -ground-work of a great universal system of folklore. This would suggest -that plant myths are founded mainly on true and inherent facts rather -than on passing fancies. Almost all the nations have chosen the Rose -for the queen of the floral court, and therefore the most fitting -symbol of love. The White Lily has purity written on its spotless -petals, and could never stand for anything else, anywhere. The Poppy is -a brilliant, sensuous flower, quite suggestive of the narcotic excesses -which its opium induces. Many extravagant plant beliefs of the past had -their foundation in medicine. In the Middle Ages, quacks and charlatans -used herbs having curative powers to exhort money from the masses. A -few of the correctives were of real value, but there were thousands -of out-and-out deceptions. Even so redolent and simple a thing as the -common Onion was sometimes suspended in a room in the belief that it -would draw all troublesome maladies out of the inmates. The first -herbalists were priests, but gradually their art passed into the hands -of professional outsiders, where it suffered greater and greater abuse.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</span></p> - -<p>One ancient dogma taught that each plant possessed the power of healing -one particular disease, made known by some outward sign or similiarity. -Thus bright-eyed flowers were good for those with failing sight; red -blossoms of all kinds would arrest nose-bleed; Turmeric, a very yellow -dye, cured jaundice; plants with long, tubular flowers were excellent -specifics for throat troubles.</p> - -<p>Many of these medicinal superstitions linger among the more simple -of the earth’s inhabitants today. Dutch and English countrymen still -believe that a Potato carried in the pocket is a sort of protective -charm against rheumatism. In Ohio, the farmers sometimes wear a string -of Job’s Tears seeds in an effort to cure goitre. In New England, the -same magic charm is used to help babies through the troublesome period -of teething.</p> - -<p>The devil and his evil spirits have always wielded a large influence -over certain members of the plant kingdom. In Scotland, up until the -seventeenth century, it was customary to allow a small section of each -farm to lie untilled and uncropped as a peace offering to Satan. In -certain<span class="pagenum" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</span> English counties, children of today will not pick Blackberries -after a certain date, believing that the Evil One has trampled them and -made them poisonous to humans. German peasants, without batting an eye, -will tell you that the devil, in one form or another, has the regular -habit of stealing portions of their crops.</p> - -<p>Of plants that are dedicated to Satan, or more properly, which he -has appropriated, there are many hundreds. Toadstools, because of -their miraculously fast growth and fantastic shape, have always been -associated with the kingdom of evil. It is not quite so apparent why -other more beautiful plants are also handed over to Satan, though a -reason can usually be found. The most alluring and gorgeous flowers are -quite apt to be poisonous.</p> - -<p>In old Bohemia, the Belladonna was a favourite of the devil. He -could be enticed from it on Walpurgis Night by letting loose a black -hen, after which he ran. In Russia, people shun the Sow-Thistle as a -devil-plant. Some Germans believe that evil spirits lurk in Lettuce -beds. To the same people, the Herban is the “Devil’s Eye.” Many -nationalities are quite<span class="pagenum" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</span> sure that the Herb-Bennett, when kept in a -house, takes its owners out from under the devil’s influence. Thistle -is often used for the same purpose. The Greeks used to place a Laurel -bough over their doors to ward off evil. There is an English Fungus -called Lycoperdon, or Puff-Ball, which produces a mass of dusty spores -not unlike snuff. The annoyance experienced by people in the vicinity -of the bursting pods has led to the plant being called “Devil’s -Snuff-Box.” Children use it for various amusing pranks.</p> - -<p>Closely allied to the devil-plants are the witch-plants, vegetable -favourites of his human emissaries. The Elder is supposed to be a -frequent meeting-place of these sinister hags; under its branches they -bury their satanic offspring.</p> - -<p>The witches employ the deadly Night-Shade in their vile concoctions. -It is reputed to spring from the foam of the vicious, many-headed -dog which guards the infernal regions. The Vervain and the Rue are -also ingredients. The fact that the former was at one time sacred to -Thor, and was also used in the rituals of the Druids, is a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</span> possible -explanation of its evil name. Rue as a narcotic capable of producing -hallucinations, is most naturally a witch’s plant. Strange to say, both -of these plants are sometimes used as charms <em>against</em> witches. -The Romans used the Vervain in casting lots, telling fortunes, and -foreshadowing national events. Many other plants, ordinarily harmless, -become the possessors of evil charms when gathered under certain -circumstances. Thus, Shakespeare speaks of “root of hemlock digg’d i’ -the dark,” and “slips of yew sliver’d in the moon’s eclipse,” as being -cast into the bubbling pot.</p> - -<p>The Fox Glove is “Witches’ Bell,” and is used by them to decorate their -fingers. They employ the large Ragwort as a steed for their midnight -journeys. In Ireland it is known as “Fairies’ Horse.” It is said -that witches use Fern seed to make themselves invisible. In Germany -they employ the Luck Flower for the same purpose. The Sea Poppy and -the Moonwart (<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Botrychium Lunaria</i>) are also numbered among the -witch-plants. To the latter is also given the power of opening locks.</p> - -<p>In England, Pimpernel, Herb-Paris and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</span> Cyclamen are protections against -witches. In Germany and many other continental countries, the <abbr title="saint">St.</abbr> -John’s Wort is their enemy and exposer.</p> - -<p>The fairies have appropriated many flowers for their especial use. -Despite the disbelief of latter days, to some people elfland still -extends around the globe, and defies all the laws of chemistry and -physics. It is still fairy midnight trippings which form those -mysterious circles or depressions often to be noticed on the dewy sward -of early morning. When the peasant girls of England go out into the -meadows to beautify their complexions with applications of May dew, -they always leave these mystic circles severely alone, for fear of -offending the fays.</p> - -<p>Midnight is the fairy magic hour. At the trumpet call of the Harebell, -they gallop to their meeting-places mounted on blades of Grass or -on Cabbage leaves. Sometimes they assemble to the tolling of the -Wood-Sorrel or “Fairy Bell”. For more extended migrations, they travel -in Nuts. They usually dress in green and provide themselves with -mantles of Gossamer. The Irish ones use Fox-Glove blossoms<span class="pagenum" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</span> to cover -their hands. In infancy, the fays are cradled in Tulips and throughout -life, they use the Cowslip as a drinking cup, and seek shelter of the -Wood-Anemone in wet weather.</p> - -<p>In some localities, it is believed that the fairies create the -Toad-Stools. They are also reputed to gather colours from the sunset -clouds, and with tiny but accurate brushes cover flower petals with -their delicate tints. Fairies seldom reveal themselves to men, but the -lucky possessor of a four-leafed Clover is sometimes privileged to see -them.</p> - -<p>From time immemorial, men and maidens in love have sought the aid of -their floral friends. Which of us is there who has not gone to the -Daisy in some heart perplexity of youth, and made its petals say, “She -loves me; She loves me not,” as we pulled them off one by one? An older -and less known superstition says that an Apple seed placed on a hot -stove will hop towards one’s future mate.</p> - -<p>In England, the Marigold is used for various love divinations, but in -Germany it is carefully excluded from affairs of the heart. In that -latter country the Star-Flower and the Dandelion<span class="pagenum" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</span> are popular in such -cases. There was a time when Peas were much in demand for sentimental -forecasts. On opening a pod, the number of green spheres discovered had -a special significance. The dwarves were supposed to be especially fond -of Peas. Even the prosaic Onion has at times been used to explain the -mysteries of the divine emotion.</p> - -<p>The Rose, most superb of flowers, has been extolled through all ages as -the symbol of love. Incidentally, it is the national flower of England. -The Scotch have a pretty ballad legend about Fair Margaret and Sweet -William. The beautiful love of these two young people never realized -itself in marriage. They both met an untimely death and were buried -on either side of the neighbouring church. Soon there sprang up a -climbing Rose vine from the grave of each, and meeting on the gable of -the church, the lovers entwined in the lasting embrace which had been -denied in life. Red Roses, because of their colour, have sometimes been -supposed to have a relation to human blood. The medieval girl used to -bury a few drops of her blood under a Rosebush in the hope that this -action would<span class="pagenum" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</span> bring her ruddy cheeks. The Romans used the Rose as the -symbol of love for the dead. They placed it extensively on their tombs.</p> - -<p>In the past, there have arisen rumours of plants of wondrous properties -which have been the mere inventions of glory-seeking travelers. Sir -John Mandeville was a famous offender who even issued reports of trees -which produced live animals in their fruits.</p> - -<p>The old Greeks used to decorate their tombs with Parsley. When a person -was dangerously ill, it was often said, “He has need now of nothing but -Parsley.”</p> - -<p>The humble Bean has at times been afforded superstitious reverence. It -is said that Pythagoras forbade his disciples to eat it.</p> - -<p>The anxiety to secure good crops has led to many superstitious -practices. In the pagan days of Germany and likewise in Rome, an image -was carried around each field in order to insure its fertility. After -the introduction of Christianity, the image of a saint was substituted -for the heathen deity, and the practice continued.</p> - -<p>Again and again, the Onion, whose name today is only mentioned with -bated breath,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</span> crops up among old plant superstitions. Because of its -structure of enveloping sheaths, the Egyptians rightly considered -it a splendid symbol of the universe. In Christian days, <abbr title="saint">St.</abbr> Thomas -patronized it. Its cousin, the Leek, bears the blossom which Welshmen -still hail as their national flower. It is worn by all loyal patriots -on March first, <abbr title="saint">St.</abbr> David’s Day.</p> - -<p>The Thistle, Scotland’s national flower, was once sacred to Thor. In -those days it was regarded as a safeguard against lightning, from which -it got its colour. Ireland’s Shamrock belongs to the Trefoil family, -and is sometimes called Dutch Clover, though the Wood-Sorrel is claimed -by some to be the true Shamrock. <abbr title="saint">St.</abbr> Patrick once used it as a natural -symbol of the trinity, through which it became nationalized.</p> - -<p>Superstitions of the four-leafed Clover have lingered in the -imaginations of men almost more than those of any other plant. To be -efficacious in bringing good luck, the little talisman must be found -unawares. If slipped into the shoe of a lover, it will insure his safe -return. The finding of a five-leaved Clover brings bad luck.</p> - -<p>Superstition plays its part in the evolution<span class="pagenum" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</span> of knowledge, and -speculation is the parent of modern science. Astrologers, reading the -fortunes of nations and individuals in the stars, paved the way for the -great and exact science of astronomy. Studious alchemists in searching -for a cheap way to make gold, laid the foundations of the profound -science of chemistry. In a similar way, the old herbalists, with their -secret potions and mysterious compounds, were the instigators of the -accurate study of medicine, and most important from our standpoint, -were instruments which greatly advanced the love and growing -appreciation of plants and flowers.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII<br /><span class="small"><span class="smcap">Mysticism in the Plant World</span></span></h2> -</div> - - -<p class="poetry"> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">“<i>Who passeth by the Rosemarie</i></span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><i>And careth not to take the spraye,</i></span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>For woman’s love no care has he,</i></span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><i>Nor shall he though he live for aye.</i>”</span><br /> -</p> - - -<p>One day John G. Allen of Cherry, Arizona, went fishing along a small -tributary of the River Verde. His skill with the rod seeming to fail -him, he decided to make his outing profitable in other directions by -hunting through some neighbouring cliff-dwellings for pottery. While -wandering through those ancient and curious abodes, he accidentally -discovered a section of wall which looked as though it might have -been built to close a former opening. Careful investigation revealed -the truth of this surmise, for, with a little perseverance, he broke -through and removed enough stone to admit his body into a small room or -recess, which contained some pottery and household utensils of extreme -age.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</span></p> - -<p>In one corner of this prehistoric place, <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Allen discovered a few -Corn cobs and about a dozen Squash seeds. More as a joke than anything -else, he planted twelve of the seeds the next spring.</p> - -<p>Eleven of them remained insensate to the revivifying influence of -earth, sun and water, but the twelfth took courage and, bursting the -walls which had imprisoned it for hundreds and possibly thousands of -years, sprang up into a hardy, healthy vine, which eventually bore a -huge, green, extremely warty Squash weighing nearly twenty-five pounds. -This vegetable visitor from a shadowy age was named the “Aztec,” and -attained great fame.</p> - -<p>There have been other and more striking instances of the suspended -animation which permits plant life to lie quiescent for countless -centuries, ready for an opportune time to resume the regular cycle of -its existence. There are those who are always ready to cry “fraud,” and -conclusively prove these marvels false, but there is abundant evidence -to show that plant embryos can and, in some cases, do survive long -periods of time.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</span></p> - -<p>What a lesson lies in such phenomena! The power that can keep alive and -unchanged the cells of a vegetable seed so many centuries is not likely -to allow the soul of a man to perish. What an argument for immortality! -What a breeder of strange and mysterious thoughts!</p> - -<p>There is much mysticism in the plant world. What man does not -understand, he either holds in awe or contempt. The plants are too -often treated with good-humoured derision, but among higher minds, -their unintelligible factors give them a greater fascination—a mystery -and a psychic interest which is very alluring.</p> - -<p>The plants seem to be closer in tune with Nature than man. They place -themselves under her direct tutelage, and are extremely sensitive to -her various moods and fancies. They respond to influences of weather -and time with remarkable alacrity. The scarlet Pimpernel in particular, -is an excellent barometer. At the least indication of rain, it folds -its petals together in snug security, and, contrary to human beings, -closes instead of opens the umbrella of its body. On a rainy day, it -never unfolds at all, so eager is it to keep its petals dry.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</span></p> - -<p class="poetry"> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">“No heart can think, no tongue can tell,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The virtues of the Pimpernell.”</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>The greatest of all floral barometers is the Weather-Plant or Indian -Licorice (<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Abrus Precatorius</i>). So keenly sensitive to all -atmospheric conditions is this plant that it may be used to foretell -cyclones, hurricanes, earthquakes, and even volcanic eruptions. -Its small, rose-like leaves are in continual motion, which varies -noticeably under different electrical and magnetic influences. The -Austrian Professor Norwack, working at his Weather-Plant Observatory -at Kew Gardens, London, once used it to predict a disastrous fire-damp -explosion.</p> - -<p>Many flowers show a remarkable appreciation of the passage of time and -open and close at regular hours each day. In fact, a close student -of floral habits can actually tell the time of day by watching the -actions of the flowers around him. It is said that the Swedish botanist -Linnaeus once built himself a flower clock, arranged to count the -passing hours by the folding and unfolding of different blossoms. One -does not really need to go to this trouble. The common flowers of -the field and garden<span class="pagenum" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</span> are all accurate time-pieces. Long before the -rising of the sun their activity begins; in fact even the night hours -are all noticed by certain more obscure plants. Along about three in -the morning, the dainty Goat’s-Beard wakes from sleep and spreads -its petals. Promptly at four o’clock the Dandelion begins its day’s -work. The Naked Stalked Poppy, the copper-coloured Day-Lily and the -smooth Sow-Thistle are five o’clock risers. The Field Marigold is a -slug-a-bed, and does not blink its sleepy eyes at the sun until ten -o’clock. The Ice-Plant throws back its downy coverlets exactly at noon.</p> - -<p>Shortly after mid-day, the early risers begin to get tired, and -prepare to sleep through the heat of the afternoon. Beginning with the -Hawkweed Picris shortly after noon, and extending to the bed-time of -the Chickweed at ten at night, every quarter hour sees the retirement -of some particular flower. After sundown, the night owls make their -appearance, and such plants as the Night-Blooming Cereus, the -Moonflower, and the Datura check off the fleeting minutes. How can this -marvelous acquaintance<span class="pagenum" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</span> with the passage of time be explained in terms -of cold materialism?</p> - -<p>Among plants which show a well-developed sense of direction, the -Compass-Plant is probably the most remarkable. Its flowers, and -sometimes the edges of its leaves, always point toward the north with -the certainty of a magnet. Travelers have been known to use it as a -natural guide.</p> - -<p>A great many plants perform remarkable acts which can only be explained -by the possession of some measure of psychic sense or quality. Thus, -a climbing plant in need of a prop will creep along the ground toward -the nearest vertical support. If the support is shifted, the vine will -promptly change the direction of its progress, and eventually reach the -object of its desires.</p> - -<p>Inasmuch as it is positively known that plants are sensitive to light, -it may be that, in this case, the vine actually perceives the support -through a process akin to animal sight; but if a climbing plant finds -itself growing between two mounds or ridges, and behind one there is -a wall or some other means of support, and behind<span class="pagenum" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</span> the other none, it -will invariably bend its creeping steps over the ridge hiding the wall. -The wall was invisible from the plant’s starting-point, and certainly -betrayed its presence through no odour or other manifestation. In -some mysterious way, the creeper simply knew that a vital necessity -of its life lay in a certain direction. Ordinarily, we associate such -phenomena with psychic influences. It is quite evident, that in certain -ways, the plants display a very practical knowledge of such mysteries.</p> - -<p>For many years, man has instinctively been aware of this psychic -superiority of the members of the vegetable kingdom, and has gone to -them for advice in various troubles and difficulties, even sometimes -believing the plants to have a direct control over the affairs and -lives of men. While the great mass of such alleged influence is classed -by modern thought as merest superstition, who can say that the wildest -of these fancies does not contain certain germs of truth? At any rate, -a brief investigation of some of the more popular beliefs of former -years is very illuminating.</p> - -<p>In ancient days, many flowers and plants were<span class="pagenum" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</span> supposed to possess -the power of discovering the location of lost or hidden riches and -conducting a human searcher to them. The Germans named the Primrose -Schlüsselblume, or key-flower, in the belief that, if held in the -hand, it would unlock to its possessor the location of buried treasure -by some movement or other manifestation. To this day, many country -people in Europe and America have implicit faith in the ability of the -divining rod to seek out underground water. There are many enlightened -folk who claim that reported successes of this method of picking -well-sites are mere coincidences, but in view of the wide-spread -reliance on this theory which is constantly meeting the most practical -tests, would it not be open-minded to suggest that possibly the -branches of the rod do make some slight movement toward the hidden -water with which they have a natural affinity?</p> - -<p>As mentioned in a previous chapter, young people through all ages have -gone to flowers for counsel when in love. The most frequent masculine -question has been “Does she love me?” The flowers have given the answer -in a variety<span class="pagenum" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</span> of ways, most often by the number of their petals. The -query of the very young girl usually has been “Will I be married?” -and she has been sure to see that the reply is most often in the -affirmative. In <i>A Midsummer Night’s Dream</i>, Oberon tells Puck to -lay Pansies on Titania’s eyes in order that she may fall in love with -the first person she sees upon awakening.</p> - -<p>There was a time when people placed great reliance upon the efficacy -of dreams. Plants seen in dreams always had special significance. -Among the various omens, general good fortune was indicated by Palms, -Olives, Jessamines, Lilies, Laurels, Thistles, Currants and Roses. When -flowers or fruit of the Plum, Cherry, Cypress and Dandelion appeared, -misfortune was indicated. Withered Roses foretold especially dire -events. “Nobody is fond of fading flowers.” A four-leaved Clover -put under a pillow induced dreams of one’s lover. In parts of South -America, the natives are said to smoke and eat certain intoxicating -plants in the hope that they may see visions in the resulting narcotic -dreams.</p> - -<p>Plants have not been the cause of very many<span class="pagenum" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</span> ghost stories, but -occasionally one hears of some mysterious night adventure of which some -plant is the central figure.</p> - -<p>The Reverend S. H. Wainright of Japan tells a somewhat amusing tale of -a ghost scare he and his family had while living at Tsukiji, Tokio. -One evening, while sitting around the fire, they were considerably -disturbed by a weird and recurring sound which seemed to come from the -front yard. At first they took it for the creaking of a bamboo gate, -then for boys throwing pebbles, but neither of these explanations -seemed adequate. Finally, continual repetitions led to a search which -located the noises in a Wistaria arbour near the front fence. On near -approach, the loud taps sounded so much like stones striking the -leaves, that it was decided to take no further notice of the matter. -However, the problem weighed on <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Wainright’s mind, and he and his -son at length sallied forth a third time, determined with Aristotle -that the main thing was to know the causes.</p> - -<p>“We entered the side yard through the bamboo gate and approached the -Wistaria. Underneath<span class="pagenum" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</span> the Trellis arbour there were dark shadows and -outlines were indistinct. A Palmyra Palm was growing in the corner -of the fence under the arbour, and the fingers of one of the leaves -pointing downward seemed to be the hand of a man. When expectation is -running high, a fingered palm leaf may easily become the hand of a -human being or of a shadowy ghost. We had the electric burners brought -to the windows upstairs and the light thrown toward the arbour, and the -shadows cast by the electric rays rendered the situation all the more -mysterious.</p> - -<p>“The noises were plainly among the Wistaria vines. But, strange to -say, the stones which seemed to be striking the vines came from no -particular direction. They seemed to burst like shells the minute -they struck and the pieces were heard to fall or strike in different -directions. By this time the thought of ghosts had not only occurred to -us but was gaining force in our minds. Indeed, a first-rate romance was -developing—subjectively, I should no doubt add.”</p> - -<p>Again the party abandoned the quest, returned<span class="pagenum" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</span> to their fireside, -but could not rest content. “With a heroic determination of will, I -declared that I would again go in search of the causes and not return -until the secret had been found out. The lights were held by those who -remained indoors at the upstairs windows. Two of us approached through -the side yard the place of mystery. Step by step we advanced, stopping -at intervals to listen. We could see nothing, but the noises we heard -were unmistakable. There could be no deception as to their reality. -Step by step, we drew nearer, peering in the meanwhile into the dark -shadows beneath the Wistaria. The nearer we came to the arbour, the -greater was the sense of mystery which possessed us. The noises were -weird and inexplicable. As we came near, a discovery was made which -excited us still more. After the explosion of the shells, white sabers -seemed to fall upon the ground. Were the ghosts in battle? What could -it all mean?</p> - -<p>“Loyal to the heroic determination to go straight to the seat of the -trouble, I walked beneath the Wistaria arbour feeling an atmosphere -charged with electricity as I went. We<span class="pagenum" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</span> stood side by side looking -about and waiting, when suddenly a Fuji pod exploded before our -eyes. The seeds flew in different directions and the divided halves -of the pod fell to the ground and lay like sabers dropped in the -attack of battle. When the discovery was made, one of us called out -to the upstairs window that it was the explosion of the Wistaria pods -that caused the noises. There was a general laugh and the ghosts -disappeared. Not affected by rain or darkness, by heat or cold, by -human foot-steps or voice, there is one thing ghosts cannot endure; to -be laughed at literally slays them.”</p> - -<p>In the Middle Ages, the Mandrake was a magical plant which was reputed -to shine like a candle at night and thrive particularly well near the -gallows. When pulled from the earth, it uttered uncanny shrieks, and -according to Shakespeare “living mortals hearing them ran mad.”</p> - -<p>Two centuries ago it was believed that every plant, as well as every -human being, was under the influence of some particular planet. The -plants over which Saturn claimed an ascendency were characterized by -ill-favoured leaves,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</span> ugly flowers and repellent odours. On the other -hand the plants of Jupiter displayed smooth leaves and graceful, -fragrant flowers. Today we believe that all plants belong to only one -planet, and that is the planet earth.</p> - -<p>In the minds of agricultural folk, the moon has always had great -influence over vegetation. There are many rules still extant regarding -the proper time of that satellite’s phases in which to plant, reap -and perform a hundred other rustic acts. A medieval superstition -stated that when the moon was on the increase it imparted healing and -medicinal qualities to all herbs. During its decline, the same plants -generated poisons.</p> - -<p>The mystic qualities of the flowers have been responsible for their -extensive ceremonial use throughout all history. Man attempts to -express all his more subtle emotions by their sweetness and purity. -He carries them alike to christenings, weddings and funerals, and -invariably sends them to his best girl. It is recorded that a certain -eastern king of antiquity was in the habit of offering a hundred -thousand flowers each day before the idol of a favourite god.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</span></p> - -<p>Flowers are still extensively used as signs and symbols. There are -ponderous volumes written on the “Language of Flowers.” All the garden -beauties have a natural symbolism written on their faces. Rosemary, -with its lingering colour, is an eternal emblem of remembrance. -“Violets dim but sweeter than the lids of Juno’s eyes or Cytherea’s -breath” speak of modesty in quiet tones. The spotless Lily must always -stand for purity.</p> - -<p>Other floral symbols have been chosen for more remote but quite -apparent characteristics. Impatience is indicated by the Balsam -seed-pods, which, when ripe, curl up at the slightest touch, and shoot -forth their seeds with great violence. A popular name for the plant -is “Touch-Me-Not.” The very name of Heliotrope tells of its constant -turning toward the sun. It is often referred to as a symbol of devoted -attachment. Aspen, because of its tremulous motion has been made a sign -of fear. When people think of the Poppy and its narcotic product, they -likewise think of sleep and oblivion. A less apparent symbol is found -in the Wild Anemone, which is taken to denote brevity because<span class="pagenum" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</span> its -frail petals are soon scattered by the boisterous wind. The Snow-Drop, -first flower of spring, peeping from its immaculate snow bank, is an -unmistakable emblem of purity.</p> - -<p>The ancients were very liberal users of floral tokens; the Chinese, -Assyrians and Egyptians had many identical beliefs on the subject. The -Olive was and still is the universal badge of peace. Laurel was the -classic sign of renown with which the brows of prominent athletes and -statesmen were crowned. The Cypress was often an index of mourning. The -Rose and the Myrtle, having been dedicated to Venus, were insignias -of love. The Palm was a wide-spread representation of victory. Bible -students will recall that Palms were scattered before Jesus Christ on -the occasion of his triumphant entry into Jerusalem.</p> - -<p>In their enthusiasm, flower-lovers have sometimes allowed their -imagination to carry them into unnatural and artificial symbolism. It -is not difficult to associate the White Lily with purity but when we -are told that the Flowering Almond represents hope, the Common Almond -indiscretion and stupidity, and the Floral Almond<span class="pagenum" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</span> perfidity, one is -reduced to looking up this curious code in an indexed book. When each -variety of the Rose family has different and fluctuating significance, -a swain hesitates to summon the floral language of love to his aid.</p> - -<p>Many people believe that peculiar mystic attachments exist between -certain birds and flowers. The Persians claim that whenever a Rose -is plucked, the nightingale utters a plaintive cry as if to protest -against the wounding of the object of its love. Many other birds show -marked affection for various plants.</p> - -<p>In the same manner, almost every man and woman has his or her favourite -flower. Certain persons of a temperamental type are often emotionally -affected by the presence of flowers with which they appear to have -a mysterious psychic connection. Certain people claim to be able to -discern such marked similiarity between human beings and various flower -affinities that they undertake to liken various prominent people to -different blossoms. There is much chance for scientific investigation -in this field. With Perdita we at least know that “flowers of middle -summer should be given to men of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</span> middle age, but for our young prince -we want flowers of the spring that may become his time of day.”</p> - -<p>Sometimes, through sentimental attachment, whole peoples elect certain -flowers to represent them before the world. Thus the United States has -chosen the Goldenrod for its national floral emblem, while the Rose of -England, the Thistle of Scotland, the Shamrock of Ireland, and the Leek -of Wales act in the same capacity for the British Isles.</p> - -<p>Man paid a high compliment to the mystic veneration in which he holds -the plant world when he, in his primitive beliefs, invariably conceived -of heaven as some terrestrial paradise of luxurious vegetation. The -Persians had their Mount Caucasus; the Arabians dreamed about an -Elysium in the Desert of Arden; the Greeks and Romans had bright mental -pictures of the Gardens of Hesperides; and the Celts hoped to spend -their postmortem existence on an enchanted isle of wondrous beauty.</p> - -<p>Such beliefs have fallen into disuse, but man is still a long way off -from a solution of the various mystic phenomena of the plant world.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</span> -Botanists should leave off indexing and classifying plants for a while -and endeavour to discover the subtle and fascinating laws of their -psychic existence.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII<br /><span class="small"><span class="smcap">Plant Intelligence</span></span></h2> -</div> - - -<p class="poetry"> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">“<i>The Marigold goes to bed with the sun,</i></span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>And with him rises weeping.</i>”—<i>Shakespeare</i></span><br /> -</p> - - -<p>It is no new thing to believe in the existence of intelligence among -plants. As far back as Aristotle, various great minds in the earth’s -history have ascribed definite, thinking acts to our floral and -vegetable friends. Not a few have seen unmistakable evidences of soul -in plantdom. Even the most skeptical have become aware of many things -they cannot explain in purely mechanistic terms.</p> - -<p>We are still living in an age which has deified human wisdom. Man -has built up vast systems of knowledge and law, all based on his own -deep-rooted convictions. He approaches every subject with apriori -beliefs and presumptions. He is slow to acknowledge thinking powers to -his companion creatures of a terrestrial universe.</p> - -<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img008"> - <img src="images/008.jpg" class="w75" alt="ALLIES OF THE DESERT ARM THEMSELVES WITH PRICKLES AND -THORNS AGAINST THEIR ANIMAL ENEMIES" /> -</span></p> -<p class="center caption">ALLIES OF THE DESERT ARM THEMSELVES WITH PRICKLES AND -THORNS AGAINST THEIR ANIMAL ENEMIES<br /></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</span></p> - -<p>To a person on a country road, the wayside trees and flowers are -too often mere happenings or creations. Their ways are so quiet and -undemonstrative, that, if he has never been taught differently, he -rarely thinks of classifying them as independent, free-acting beings. -The fact that they are anchored to the soil seems to remove them from -the realm of self-willed creation. Yet why should it? Are fishes not -doomed to pass all their days in the chemical combination of hydrogen -and oxygen we call water? Does not the delicate Canary die if the air -surrounding it goes below a certain temperature?</p> - -<p>The fact is that many plants exhibit all the elemental qualities of -human intelligence and also have vague psychic expressions of their own -which we only understand in a very limited way.</p> - -<p>What causes the radicle or root of the smallest sprouting seedling -always to grow down and the plumule or stem always to grow up? It -cannot be gravity because that great earth pull would affect both parts -equally. This same radicle, when it has developed into a full-fledged<span class="pagenum" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</span> -root, feels and pushes its way through the earth in a marvellous -fashion searching out water and traveling around obstructions with -unerring exactness. The slightest pressure will serve to deflect it; -aerial roots have been observed to avoid obstacles without actually -coming in contact with them. The plants use their roots to feel their -way to moisture and nourishment just as a man would feel his way with -his hands. The great Darwin, himself, wrote many years ago: “It is -hardly an exaggeration to say that the tip of the radicle thus endowed, -and having the power of directing the movements of the adjoining parts, -acts like the brain of one of the lower animals.”</p> - -<p>In the same way, plant tendrils seek and search out the best supports, -after the manner of animal tentacles. When fully wound around a prop, -they drag the body of the plant up after them.</p> - -<p>Practically all plants show a full knowledge of the importance of -sunlight to their life processes. They usually strain all their -energies and exert all their ingenuity in an effort to display as great -a leaf surface as possible. That<span class="pagenum" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</span> this action is not always purely -instinctive is indicated by the response of certain carnivorous plants -to light. Having learned that success in capturing their prey depends -upon a static position of their leaves, they make no effort to adjust -their parts to strong or concentrated light. This is clearly a case of -intelligent adjustment to environment.</p> - -<p>It is interesting to note that the plant cells which are sensitive to -light often become tired or partially blinded just like the retina of -an animal eye. Darwin found that plants kept in darkness were much more -responsive to light than those which dwelt habitually in the sunshine.</p> - -<p>Many plants are wonderful weather prophets and keepers of time. Their -reactions to the coming of night, showers, heat, cold and other -natural phenomena show much wisdom. That plants require the rest which -accompanies sleep is indicated by the weakened and degenerate condition -of individuals which are sometimes forced to exceptionally rapid -development by continual exposure to electric light.</p> - -<p>A human faculty which few people associate<span class="pagenum" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</span> with plants, is an acute -sense of taste. How else do the plants know what elements to absorb out -of the soil? Certain experiments have enabled investigators to discover -marked taste preferences of a number of microscopic plants. Bacteria -are exceptionally fond of kali salts. Though they thrive equally well -on glycerine, they can be lured from it at any time by the toothsome -kali solution.</p> - -<p>A sense of taste plays a remarkable part in the fecundation of Moss. -The male element is composed of swift-swimming cells equipped with -vibratory hairs. When deposited by the wind or other means on the cups -of the female flower, they swim about in the moisture until they are -eventually enticed to the unfertilized eggs at the bottom by their -taste for malic acid. That this is no idle theory can be proved in the -laboratory. The seed-animalcules of some of the Ferns also are urged to -the act of impregnation by their preference for the sugar in the seed -cups.</p> - -<p>All through the plant world we see actions and habits which are the -reverse of automatism or mere instinctive response. Every plant -continually<span class="pagenum" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</span> has to meet new and trying conditions, and while its -reactions, just like those of man, are frequently in the terms of -racial and individual experience, it is constantly called upon to make -new and novel decisions.</p> - -<p>Consider the intelligence of a wild Service Tree described by -Carpenter. As a seed, it sprouted in the crotch of an Oak, and at once -sent a lusty root down toward the earth. As it descended the Oak trunk -and neared the ground, its further progress was barred by a large stone -slab. It is authentically recorded, that, when still one and one-half -feet away, the tip of the root, by direct perception or occult means, -discovered the presence of the obstruction, and, at once splitting into -two equal branches, passed on either side of the stone.</p> - -<p>A more remarkable case is that of a tropical Monstera, which, coming -into life on top of a greenhouse, sent canny and vigorous roots -directly down to certain water tanks on the ground.</p> - -<p>Isolated instances of plant intelligence might be mere coincidences if -it were not for the fact that they multiply greatly the further one -investigates.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</span> The common Potentillas and Brambles show remarkable -sagacity in searching out hidden veins of soil among the rocks where -they grow. Nothing is more ingenious than the way in which Hyacinths, -Primroses and Irises smother competitive seedlings by putting forth -large, low-lying leaves to cut off the light of neighbours.</p> - -<p>Plants are great inventors, and by continual experimentation have -perfected thousands of ingenious devices to help them in their life -struggles. Many of these have to do with the all-important processes -of reproduction and cross-fertilization. The elaborate organs which -oftentimes force visiting insects to aid the flowers in their -love-making are conclusive proofs of directing intelligence. If, as is -generally believed, vegetable life preceded animal life on this planet, -then the plants must have developed these special reproductive organs -in which insects act as the fertilizing agents as direct attempts to -benefit the race by cross-breeding.</p> - -<p>While cross-fertilization is vitally necessary for the maintenance of -a vigorous and hardy<span class="pagenum" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</span> stock, inbreeding either between flowers of the -same plant or even between the organs of a single bi-sexual flower -is often practiced. In the love-making of the Grass of Parnassus and -the Love in the Mist (<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Nigella</i>), we have a very pretty and -intelligent act. The flowers are unisexual and, as the females usually -grow on much longer stalks than the males, the latter would not have -much chance of showering their pollen on their consorts, if it were not -for the fact that, at the proper season, without outside stimulation, -the “tall females bend down to their dwarf husbands.” This surely is as -intelligent and conscious as the mating of animals.</p> - -<p>The carnivorous plants act with uncanny wisdom. The insect-devouring -Sundews pay no attention to pebbles, bits of metal, or other foreign -substances placed on their leaves, but are quick enough to sense the -nourishment to be derived from a piece of meat. Laboratory specimens -have been observed to actually reach out toward Flies pinned on cards -near them. So highstrung are these sensitive organisms that<span class="pagenum" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</span> they can -be partially paralyzed if certain spots on their leaves are pricked.</p> - -<p>Many people have no hesitancy in ascribing considerable intelligence -to the higher animals; why do they balk at making the same concession -to plants? If you concede intelligence to a single animal, you -concede <em>some measure</em> of brain-power to all animals down to the -one-celled Amoeba, and so must grant the same favour to the plant -world. Plants and animals, besides having many habits in common, -in their simplest forms are often indistinguishable. Both reduce -themselves to single-celled masses of protoplasm. The Myxomycetes are -both so plant-like and at the same time so animal-like that their -classification “depends rather on the general philosophical position of -the observer than on facts.” Possibly they are both animal and plant at -the same time—a sort of “missing link” connecting the two kingdoms of -life.</p> - -<p>Anent the same question Edward Step says, “Modern thought denies -consciousness to plants, though Huxley was bold enough to say that -every plant is an animal enclosed in a wooden box; and science has -demonstrated that there<span class="pagenum" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</span> is no distinction between the protoplasm of -animals and plants, and that if we get down to the very simplest forms -in which life manifests itself we can call them animals or plants -indifferently.”</p> - -<p>When one considers the rooted, plant-like life of Mollusks and Hermit -Crabs, and then the active, animal-like life of the free-swimming Moss -spores and the wind-borne Fungi, he is tempted to wonder if, after all, -this talk of plants and animals, is not just another of man’s arbitrary -classifications, which may be superceded in time by some other system -of nomenclature.</p> - -<p>Of only one thing are we sure, and that is that all life is one—an -expression of the intelligence and power which pervades the universe.</p> - -<p>Many readers may vaguely feel and believe these facts and yet not be -certain that plants are individually and personally intelligent; long -training makes them still feel that the many admittedly clever and -ingenious acts recorded every day in plantdom are but the indications -of some external mind or force working through<span class="pagenum" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</span> Nature. The plants act -in certain ways because they have no choice in the matter; they are -passive tools in the hands of such craftsmen as “instinct,” “heredity,” -and “environment.” The answer to this is that you can ascribe an -exactly similar fatalistic interpretation to every human thought, word -or deed. What you consider the freest decision of will you made today -can be shown conclusively to be the result of a long train of acts and -influences which stretches back to Adam. It would have been impossible -for you to have acted differently.</p> - -<p>Such blanket reasoning leads nowhere. If you believe that you are a -free, independent, decision-making soul (and who does not?) logically -you must grant the same rights to the humble Squash.</p> - -<p>Even in the terms of man’s own science, the plants can be shown to be -intelligent. The psychologist Titchner classifies the three stages of -mental processes as (1) Sensations (2) Images and (3) Affections. The -term “affection” is here used in the special sense of a capacity for -entering<span class="pagenum" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</span> into intellectual states of pleasure or pain.</p> - -<p>In view of what has already been said, it hardly seems necessary to -prove the existence of sensation in plants. The very fact that all life -is a constant response to stimuli and the adjustment to environment -presupposes the existence of plant sensation. Only a few hours passed -in the investigation of plant habits will show our vegetable friends -giving definite responses to heat, cold, moisture, light, and touch, -while laboratory experiments show their sensitive powers of taste and -hearing.</p> - -<p>The touch sense of the Sundew is developed to such an extent that it -can detect the pressure of a human hair one twenty-fifth of an inch -long. The tendrils of the Passion Flower attempt to coil up at the -slightest contact of the finger and as quickly flatten out upon its -removal. The stamens of the Opuntia or Prickly Pear have specialized -papillae of touch exactly similar to the papillae of the Hermione Worm. -When rubbed by the body of an insect, they transmit an impulse which -causes the anthers to let loose a shower of pollen on<span class="pagenum" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</span> the intruder. -The animal world cannot exhibit a higher sensitiveness to touch than -that displayed by the celebrated Venus Fly-Trap. On each side of the -leaf midrib stand three sharp little bristles. They are the sense -organs controlling the closing of the vegetable spring. Quick must an -insect be to escape their vigilance.</p> - -<p>Sensation and imagery are so closely connected in the human brain that -the existence of one would seem to predicate the other. Fortunately, we -have very good evidence to indicate the faculty of plant memory, which -must necessarily be built up of images of one kind or another.</p> - -<p>If a plant which is accustomed to folding its leaves together in sleep -on the setting of the sun, be placed in a completely dark room, it -will continue to decline and elevate its foliage at regular intervals, -indicating that it remembers the necessity for rest even with the -reminder of outside stimuli lacking.</p> - -<p>By what faculty do plants become aware of the approach of spring? -Only occasionally are they deceived by January thaws, and no matter -how unseasonably cold a March may be, they<span class="pagenum" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</span> go right ahead with the -preparation of April buds and leaves. So accurate is plant knowledge -about the seasons that Alpine flowers often bore their way up through -long-lingering snow, even developing heat with which to melt the -obstruction, when they feel that spring has really come. What gives -plants such courage in the face of contradicting elements, if not an -accurate sense of the passage of time and therefore the memory of other -seasons, which implies imagery?</p> - -<p>Until we develop a workable system of thought communication with -plants, we can never scientifically prove that plants are capable -of psychological “affections” or emotions. Mental states are purely -personal matters. We would never be sure that any other human being -went through feelings of love, anger, hate and pity, similiar to our -own, if he were not able to tell us of them. Until the plants can -describe to us their inner emotions, we can never definitely know -whether they have real feelings, and if they parallel the human variety -in any degree. But just as we have become able to read a man’s mental -processes by his facial expressions,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</span> tone of voice and bodily posture, -so we can guess at plant emotion by external manifestations. When a -flower greets the morning sun with expanded petals, uplifted head and -a generally bright appearance, why should we not say it is happy and -contented? When an approaching storm causes a plant to droop its body -and contract its petals and leaves into the smallest compass possible, -why is not fear, apprehension and melancholy indicated? When the jaws -of the Venus Fly-Trap close on its hapless victim, they must do so with -a savage joy akin to that of a Tiger springing on its prey.</p> - -<p>There are those who relegate a certain amount of intelligence to plants -but deny them consciousness. They are unwilling to admit that plants -are aware of their own physical and mental processes. This would -seem to be the merest quibbling over terms and an entrance into that -metaphysics which does away with all consciousness.</p> - -<p>If plants were not conscious, at least under stimulation, they would -have long since perished from the earth through inability to react to -new conditions. Francis Darwin says: “We<span class="pagenum" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</span> must believe that in plants -exists a faint copy of what we know as consciousness in ourselves.” -Many scientists believe that life and consciousness always precede and -are superior to organization. It is urged that possibly many plants -possess consciousness without self-consciousness or introspection.</p> - -<p>After a thoughtful consideration of such facts as these, only the -blindest prejudice can continue to laugh at plant intelligence. Why -then has the world of human thought been so long and reluctant to -acknowledge it? Simply because it always reasons along authentic and -established lines. For many years it has been taught to associate -animal movement with special groups of cells called muscles and -intelligence with special groups of cells called nerve tissue. Failing -to find any trace of nerve tissue in plants, it ignores a hundred -convincing facts to the contrary, and declares that plant intelligence -is a myth. Failing to detect a <em>mechanism</em> of sensibility, it -denies the existence of sensibility, even though in the little Mimosa -the sense of touch travels from leaf to leaf before our eyes.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</span></p> - -<p>It must be realized that the animal brain merely acts as the electrical -motor for the life-power which drives the universe. This motor and all -of its auxiliaries are absent in Protozoa and other one-celled animals, -but the power is not. In the same way, they are absent throughout all -plantdom, but the eternal life principle manifests itself in many -mighty acts.</p> - -<p>What is a nervous system, anyhow? It is a group of cells, the -specialized function of which is to transmit impulses from one to -the other by certain obscure chemical reactions. Why cannot ordinary -tissue cells do the same thing, possibly in a feebler, less efficient -way? Plant cells are all joined together by fine connecting strands, -forming a “continuity of protoplasm” through which such impulses could -readily travel. Whether investigators agree to this or not, it is an -indisputable fact that it is true.</p> - -<p>Though science is now beginning to verify the fact of plant -intelligence most conclusively great and independent thinkers of all -times have long felt its truth. Certain minds are always in advance -of their age. While science<span class="pagenum" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</span> laboriously proves every step of its way -with painstaking and commendable exactness, they are soaring far ahead -in new and fascinating fields. Sometimes they go astray, but quite as -frequently they are the pioneers of great and progressive ideas.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV<br /><span class="small"><span class="smcap">The Higher Life of Plants</span></span></h2> -</div> - -<p class="poetry"> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">“<i>I swear I think now that everything, without exception, has an immortal soul!</i></span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>The trees have, rooted in the ground! the weeds of the sea have! the animals!</i></span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>I swear I think there is nothing but immortality!</i>”</span><br /> -</p> - -<p class="ml"> -—<i>Walt Whitman</i><br /> -</p> - - -<p>Maurice Maeterlinck, in one of his delightful essays, pays a remarkable -tribute to the spiritual powers of plants.</p> - -<p>“Though there be plants and flowers that are awkward or unlovely,” he -says, “there is none that is wholly devoid of wisdom and ingenuity. All -exert themselves to accomplish their work, all have the magnificent -ambition to overrun and conquer the surface of the globe by endlessly -multiplying the form of existence which they represent. To attain this -object, they have, because of the law which chains them to the soil, to -overcome difficulties much greater than those opposed to the increase -of animals.... If we had applied to the removal of the various<span class="pagenum" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</span> -vicissitudes which crush us, such as pain, old age, and death, one-half -the energy displayed by any little flower in our gardens, we may well -believe that our lot would be very different from what it is.”</p> - -<p>No truer thought was ever set on paper. Though man prides himself upon -his imagined superiority to non-human creation, and even denies the -capacity for the higher things of life to animals and plants, he, in -reality, nearly always shows himself vastly inferior to them in actual -applications of moral and spiritual principles.</p> - -<p>Have the plants souls and spirits? No man who has carefully and -conscientiously studied them can wholly deny it. They exhibit a pluck, -a determination, a moral perseverance which awaken all our admiration. -Where we are weak, they are strong. Where men would lie down and die, -they go steadily forward. When a plant perishes in the struggle for -existence, it is because the odds have been too great. To make the most -of heredity and environment is an axiomatic rule in plantdom.</p> - -<p>Man’s mind has developed at the expense of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</span> man’s body. The plants -always maintain an admirable balance between the two. There are -degenerates and unscrupulous individuals among them, but they never -forget that their first duty is to themselves. Self-culture is with -them a passion. Whoever heard of a plant over-eating or over-drinking -or giving way to any of those indulgent vices which are the bane of the -human world? They have their faults, but they are sources of strength -rather than weakness.</p> - -<p>In relation to its companions of the vegetable realm, the Murderer -Liana is a double-dyed villain, yet it is only practicing in an open -and frank way, the food-getting methods, which all life, by its very -nature, is forced to adopt. To live by the destruction of others is the -sad lot of both the smallest plant and the most highly developed animal.</p> - -<p>Aside from the peculiarly human susceptibility to self-indulgence, it -is hard to find a single spiritual trait not exhibited by some member -of the plant kingdom.</p> - -<p>Love? There is no higher devotion than that shown by the water plant -called Vallisneria.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</span> The female flowers reach the surface of the water -at the end of long, tapering, spiral-like stalks, but the males are -compelled to remain far down near the bottom. At the flowering season, -the males, responding to the universal mating instinct, deliberately -break themselves from their stalks and rise to the surface to be near -their loves for a little while. All too soon, however, they are carried -away by unruly currents to an untimely death, leaving behind them, in -their pollen, the principle from which another generation of their -species shall arise. They have presented themselves a living sacrifice -on the altar of love.</p> - -<p>Courage? Think of all the hardy trees which dwell in the high and cold -places of the earth—places that are so exposed and desolate that the -trees and plants find it necessary to contract themselves into the -smallest possible compass, often living largely underground. On the -other hand, think of the death-defying Cacti which live in infernos of -the desert heat and dryness and yet put forth flowers of joy.</p> - -<p>Faith? Hope? What sustains the perennials through long, bleak winters -and makes them<span class="pagenum" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</span> sure of the promise of spring? When the Alpine flowers -are so positive that spring has really come that they push their -inquiring heads up through the snow which still covers the mountains, -they are showing a superhuman faith, literally risking death in order -that they may get a strong and early start in life.</p> - -<p>Charity? When trees like the Oak and the Maple allow a whole multitude -of lesser plants to dwell in the snugness of their shadows, they are -showing forth some of the kindly qualities of plantdom. If they chose -to they could discourage lowly neighbours after the manner of the -monopolistic Beech or the aristocratic Pine.</p> - -<p>Name a human sin or virtue, good quality or bad, and one does not -have to search far in the plant world for its counterpart. Along with -kindness, mercy, gratitude, submissiveness, and parental love we also -find cruelty, hard-heartedness, ingratitude, arrogance and neglect -of offspring. Even at that, the credit side always exceeds the debit -and no plant is guilty of self-destruction. It must be borne in mind, -that what we call sin and malignity are to them legitimate courses of -action.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</span></p> - -<p>If plants have every property of the human soul, why have men been so -slow to admit their kinship with the trees and the flowers? Life, law -and love are divine and bind man to all creation. He is spiritually -as well as physically related to the plants. In the past, he has -endeavoured to set himself apart from Nature and look down upon her -as upon another world. Because he has a brain, he has imagined that -anything which has none cannot possibly possess an intelligence and an -inner life. To uphold this theory he has shut his eyes to a thousand -denying facts.</p> - -<p>All plants and animals of whatever kind begin life on exactly the same -level. The wayside Daisy and the Human Being both start their earthly -careers as single cells. In both cases, there is no visible machinery -of life and consciousness, yet we can say “Here is a potential Daisy. -Here is a potential Man.” The wonderful, all-pervading spirit of life -belongs to both.</p> - -<p>The language of the Bible classifies man with all life under the Hebrew -term <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Nephesh chayiah</i>, that is, living soul or creature. The Old -Testament favours a rigorous protection of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</span> animals and plants against -wanton destruction. Is not the equality of the three kingdoms of life -hinted at in the following passage from Jonah?</p> - -<p>“Thou hast had pity on the Gourd, for the which thou hast not laboured, -neither madest it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a -night.”</p> - -<p>“And I shall not spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than -six score thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand -and their left hand and also much cattle.”</p> - -<p>Some marvelous experiments carried on by Sir Jaghadish Chaundra Bose in -Calcutta, India, offer interesting light on the higher life of plants. -By exceptionally delicate and ingenious instruments, Sir Jaghadish has -been able to measure the plant movements associated with growth, shock -and response to stimuli in general. He has come to the conclusion that -plants not only have a conscious intelligence, but have their good and -bad days, their moods, their whims. He believes they react to slight or -pleasurable stimuli by general expansion. Violent stimuli cause pain -and contraction. A plant struck a blow quivers and shakes in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</span> veritable -agony. Plants about to die undergo a violent spasm and then by making -no response at all to outside influences, show that they have actually -given up the ghost.</p> - -<p>Sir Jaghadish is satisfied that a plant pulled up by the roots -experiences a shock comparable to that of a man being beaten into -insensibility. Many trees and plants, as every gardener knows, fail to -survive transplanting and die from pure shock, even if their tissue has -been in no way injured. Sir Jaghadish has performed the interesting -experiment of administering a powerful chemical to act as an anesthetic -to trees about to be transplanted. Such specimens have stood the -re-location well but in some cases have shown an apparent loss of -memory and a general state of upset habit, exactly as would a man or -animal coming out of a stupor.</p> - -<p>All this strongly suggests a soul or driving spiritual force in every -living creature. Regarding its exact nature there are many opinions. -Maeterlinck believes that there is a general scattered intelligence, a -sort of universal fluid, which penetrates all organisms in an amount -proportionate to their conductivity. Man offers<span class="pagenum" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</span> the least resistance -to the divine principle and so receives a generous share. The plants -receive lesser amounts, but really belong to the same intellectual -order. They exhibit the same ideas, the same hopes, the same logic -and undergo the same trials in a lesser degree than their more -educated brothers. The plants and man both grope, hesitate and correct -themselves in their labourious evolutionary development.</p> - -<p>Of course, this theory is only a conjecture, but is very appealing and -much more modest than the traditional attitude which assumes that man -is a miraculous and marvelously endowed being fallen from another world -and therefore lacking any definite ties with the rest of terrestrial -life.</p> - -<p>If then we believe that a vital spiritual force dwells within every -plant, what becomes of it after the death of its enclosing walls? Each -cell of a tree in effect dies many times each season. Continual waste -and renovation bring periodic transformation of cell structure. The -abode is changed but not the inhabitant. There must be an animating, -non-physical force which carries on the cycle. If it is superior to -the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</span> forces of bodily dissolution, must it not also be infinite, -immortal?</p> - -<p>With so many modern people doubting (or pretending to doubt) the -immortality of man, it may seem presumptuous to claim immortality for -the plants, yet that is the unescapable conclusion to which the writers -of this book are driven. All life is one, indivisible and inseparable. -There is a divine spark in every living creature and it is reasonable -to expect it to live beyond death. Immortality by reproduction is not -enough. If it were true that the eternal principle continually passes -from parent to offspring, and that when the parent dies, he is dead -spiritually as well as physically, then we should expect immediate -degeneracy and death after reproduction takes place. That a portion -of soul essence descends through countless generations we do not -doubt, but each plant and animal is also a spiritual entity. Man and -plants are both tools in the hands of Maeterlinck’s all-prevailing -intelligence. Yet man feels that he is a free agent. Why not the plants -also?</p> - -<p>Every plant has racial and family traits, and each one also has a -marked personality. If immortality<span class="pagenum" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</span> is a fulfilling, a conserving -continuance of the present earthly existence, then the plants deserve -and have a right to expect a chance for infinite development.</p> - -<p>The plants serve to make this earth a floral paradise. Why should they -not be equally necessary in a world of spirit? It is to man’s credit -that he has always pictured heaven as a place made beautiful by great -hosts of trees and flowers.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XV">CHAPTER XV<br /><span class="small"><span class="smcap">Plants and Men</span></span></h2> -</div> - -<p class="poetry"> -<span style="margin-left: 6em;">“<i>Our human souls</i></span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>Cling to the grass and water brooks.</i>”</span><br /> -</p> - -<p class="ml"> -—<i>Athanase</i><br /> -</p> - - -<p>The average city man gives little thought or attention to his vegetable -neighbours, yet their continued existence is quite as vital to him as -the air he breathes. Directly or indirectly he is utterly dependent -upon them.</p> - -<p>Every time he sits down to a dinner table, he is paying an unconscious -tribute to the food-producing abilities of plantdom. In a general -way, plants are the world’s food producers and the animals are the -consumers. Plants are able to build up living tissue from inorganic -material. Animals must prey upon that elaborated structure to keep -themselves alive. Plants separate oxygen from carbon dioxide and water, -thereby storing up sunshine as potential energy. Animals reverse the -process, and, re-combining oxygen with the plant tissue, liberate<span class="pagenum" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</span> -heat and power. In a desert region, animals soon perish, because even -carnivorous species live on herbivorous fellows which in turn are -eaters of plants. This is why the distribution of men and animals is so -greatly influenced by that of plants.</p> - -<p>For clothing man depends partly upon such plant-products as Cotton and -Flax and partly on plant-fed animals which yield him silk, wool and -leather. The great plant structures of the forest give him the chief -materials which go into the construction of his ships and houses, with -all their appurtenances. The bodies of plants, recently alive or the -bodies of plants long since dead furnish fuel for cooking, heating and -power. Drugs are very largely of vegetable origin. In brief, the plants -feed, clothe, shelter, and warm mankind.</p> - -<p>Man has made many plants his servants. His first attention was -naturally given to such species as he could use for food. Two thousand -years ago, the ancients were growing practically all the food plants -that are known today. Maize, Potatoes, Rice, Beans, Dates and Bananas -have been cultivated for an even longer period.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</span> Fodder plants, -calculated to furnish food for man’s domestic animals, were the next to -receive attention, and following those, medical plants, edible fruits, -garden vegetables and aromatic leaves and seeds, such as Tea and -Coffee, came to the fore.</p> - -<p>When we consider that plants display superior powers in so many -directions and, as F. L. Sargent says, “do to perfection so many -things we cannot do at all,” it is really remarkable that man has -so completely subjected them to his will. Because of their static -condition, they are quite helpless in his hands. He levels their -grandest forests and burns their widest prairies. Certain plants he -makes his pets, fighting their enemies and nurturing them in the most -careful way. The tender Wheat would never be able to occupy the vast -stretches it does through its own strength. Under man’s guidance and -protection, its volume is increased a thousand fold.</p> - -<p>The vast changes which human efforts make in the surface of the earth -have a correspondingly important effect on vegetation. Every time a -tract of woods is cut down, every time a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</span> lake is drained, every time a -field is plowed—whenever any alteration is made in the landscape—the -vegetation is affected. Sometimes this disturbance of the natural order -of things becomes a serious menace, as in the case of deforestation. -The welfare of the world is bound up with the welfare of the plants.</p> - -<p>About a hundred years ago, a certain section of forest in France was -levelled. It contained Oak, Beech, and Ash. The new trees to spring -up were Birch and Poplar. After thirty years they too were felled -and young shoots of the same species immediately came up, with a few -descendants of the original growth reappearing. It was not until the -third clearing or ninety years after the original cutting that the Oaks -and Beeches began to regain their lost prestige. This is a good example -of the effect that human operations have on the plant world. Wholesale -cuttings tend to change the chemical composition of the soil by -withdrawing certain elements, thereby causing other species to flourish -which do not need this material.</p> - -<p>When it comes to plants grown in nurseries and conservatories, -gardeners are often able to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</span> make almost unbelievable changes in floral -and vegetable form and structure. There has been much experimentation -of recent years in connection with the effect of light, both natural -and artificial, on plant processes. In general, it has been established -that it is just as injurious for a plant to have too much light as -too little. Steady exposure to light makes for accelerated growth of -tissue. Lessening light speeds up flowering and reproduction. Control -over a plant’s light supply therefore means that the manipulator -can produce at will either large, luxuriantly foliaged plants which -flower late, or from the same seed develop small specimens blooming -exceptionally early.</p> - -<p>Man is not content with merely controlling the external conditions -which affect vegetation but often steps into their internal processes -and moulds their life-forces at their very fountainhead. By the simple -methods of selection and cross-breeding, he is able to work miracles -with the laws of heredity, and bridge in a few years gaps which a plant -would have taken centuries to span by ordinary evolutionary processes.</p> - -<p>Luther Burbank is the modern garden<span class="pagenum" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</span> wizard who has attained the -greatest distinction in this field. He says: “There is no barrier to -obtaining fruits of any size, form or flavour desired, and none to -producing plants and flowers of any form, colour or fragrance; all that -is needed is a knowledge to guide our efforts in the right direction, -undeviating patience and cultivated eyes to detect variations of value.”</p> - -<p>Burbank has many times shown that he has the knowledge, patience and -cultivated eye in a superlative degree. He claims to only apply old -methods in a new way, but his results have been phenomenal. In fruits -he has produced many new varieties of Apples, Pears, Peaches, Apricots, -Plums, Prunes, Cherries and Quinces. His Plumcot is a delicious cross -between a Plum and an Apricot. Out of the Dewberry and a Siberian -Raspberry he compounded what he calls the Primus Berry. A Dewberry plus -a Cuthbert Raspberry equals a Phenomenal Berry. One Lawton Blackberry -and one Crystal White Blackberry make one Paradox Berry.</p> - -<p>Among the Burbank floral creations the Shasta Daisy is notable. -It combines strains from Europe, Japan, and America. A new giant<span class="pagenum" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</span> -Amaryllis has twelve-inch blossoms. The Tigridias is spectacular, the -blue Poppies are odd and there are many extraordinary Lilies.</p> - -<p>The substitute for Grass developed by the California naturalist thrives -through the most severe drought and so is of practical economic value. -His improved Walnut Trees grow to a large size in a few years and his -Chestnuts bear abundant crops when they are mere bushes. Spineless -Cactus is a very valuable creation.</p> - -<p>All these results are obtained in what seems to be a very simple -way, yet their successful outcome is only made possible by the -mind of genius working with infinite patience over long periods of -years. To select out of a group of plants a few individuals which -show exceptional quality of a desirable type; to save the seed of -these favoured few and make further selections among their progeny; -to couple with this the cross-pollenizing of different varieties or -species showing a tendency to greater variation or accentuation of -characteristics—all this may seem only high grade garden practice, -but only one man in two or three generations has the exceptional and -sympathetic perceptive<span class="pagenum" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</span> faculties which enable him to attain really -striking results.</p> - -<p>On his experimental farms near Santa Rosa, California, Luther Burbank -has made many thousand distinct experiments involving a wide range of -plant species. It is said that at times he has had as many as three -thousand tests, calling for observations on a million plants and -flowers, under way at once. Probably no similar area of the earth’s -surface has grown such a variety of vegetable products or had such -infinite care lavished upon it.</p> - -<p>These are the practical aspects of the relations of plants to men. On -the esthetic and pleasurable side they are equally important.</p> - -<p>The love of plants and flowers is a universal sentiment slumbering in -the most prosaic breast. Plants are a perpetual source of joy. They are -friends which never change. In youth, they give zest to our outdoor -pleasures. In age, they bespeak the happiness of days gone by. In -death, they strew our last resting place with fragrance. At all times, -they stand for purity, beauty and peace.</p> - - -<p class="center p2">THE END</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="INDEX">INDEX</h2> -</div> - - -<ul class="index"> -<li class="ifrst">Acacia, <a href="#Page_125">125</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Acanthus, <a href="#Page_103">103</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Agave, <a href="#Page_67">67</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Aglaia, <a href="#Page_139">139</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Air Plants, <a href="#Page_41">41</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Alder, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Alfalfa, <a href="#Page_56">56</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Algae, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Almond, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_182">182</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Aloe, <a href="#Page_93">93</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Amaryllis, <a href="#Page_221">221</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Ampelopsis, <a href="#Page_108">108</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Anacharis, <a href="#Page_49">49</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Anemone, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Antirrhinum, <a href="#Page_75">75</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Ant Nest Plant, <a href="#Page_72">72</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Apple, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_220">220</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Apricot, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_220">220</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Arrowhead, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_92">92</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Arum, <a href="#Page_146">146</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Ash, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Aspen, <a href="#Page_181">181</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Asphodel, <a href="#Page_145">145</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Aster, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Asterophyllites, <a href="#Page_24">24</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Azalia, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_97">97</a></li> -</ul> -<ul class="index"> -<li class="ifrst">Bacteria, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_190">190</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Balm of Gilead, <a href="#Page_150">150</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Balsam, <a href="#Page_181">181</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Balsam Poplar, <a href="#Page_78">78</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Bamboo, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Banana, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Banibusa, <a href="#Page_139">139</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Barberry, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Barley, <a href="#Page_26">26</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Barrel Cactus, <a href="#Page_67">67</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Basil, <a href="#Page_151">151</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Bean, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>, <a href="#Page_216">216</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Beech, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Beech Drops, <a href="#Page_62">62</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Beet, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Begonia, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_98">98</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Belladonna, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>, <a href="#Page_158">158</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Birch, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Birth-Wort, <a href="#Page_76">76</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Blackberry, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_158">158</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Black-eyed Susan, <a href="#Page_97">97</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Bladderwort, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Brambles, <a href="#Page_192">192</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Broom-Rape, <a href="#Page_62">62</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Butter-and-Eggs, <a href="#Page_50">50</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Buttercup, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Butternut, <a href="#Page_47">47</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Butter-Wort, <a href="#Page_75">75</a></li> -</ul> -<ul class="index"> -<li class="ifrst">Cabbage, <a href="#Page_105">105</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Cactus, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Calamites, <a href="#Page_24">24</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Calceolarias, <a href="#Page_97">97</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Camellia, <a href="#Page_97">97</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Cardoon Artichoke, <a href="#Page_49">49</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Carrion Flower, <a href="#Page_88">88</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Carrot, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Castor Oil Tree, <a href="#Page_41">41</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Catalpa, <a href="#Page_116">116</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Cat-Tail, <a href="#Page_116">116</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Cecropia, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_81">81</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Cedar, <a href="#Page_116">116</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Cherry, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>, <a href="#Page_220">220</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Chestnut, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Chickweed, <a href="#Page_171">171</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Cinerarias, <a href="#Page_97">97</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Clover, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_165">165</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Club-Mosses, <a href="#Page_24">24</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Cobaea Scandens, <a href="#Page_79">79</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Cockle-bur, <a href="#Page_48">48</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Cocoanut, <a href="#Page_45">45</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Coffee, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_217">217</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Compass-Plant, <a href="#Page_172">172</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Conifers, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Corn, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_168">168</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Cotton, <a href="#Page_216">216</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Cottonwood, <a href="#Page_115">115</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Cow Horn Orchid, <a href="#Page_71">71</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Cowslip, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_162">162</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Cranesbill, <a href="#Page_98">98</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Crocus, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Cuckoo-Pint, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Cucumber, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Currant, <a href="#Page_175">175</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Cyclamen, <a href="#Page_161">161</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Cypress, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>, <a href="#Page_182">182</a></li> -</ul> -<ul class="index"> -<li class="ifrst">Daffodil, <a href="#Page_37">37</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Daisy, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>, <a href="#Page_220">220</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Dandelion, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Date, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_216">216</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Date Palm, <a href="#Page_35">35</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Datura, <a href="#Page_171">171</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Day-Lily, <a href="#Page_171">171</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Delphinium, <a href="#Page_97">97</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Devil’s Snuff Box, <a href="#Page_159">159</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Devil’s Thread, <a href="#Page_62">62</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Dewberry, <a href="#Page_220">220</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Diatoms, <a href="#Page_127">127</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Dodder, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_62">62</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Duckweed, <a href="#Page_46">46</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Dutch Clover, <a href="#Page_165">165</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Dutchman’s Pipe, <a href="#Page_106">106</a></li> -</ul> -<ul class="index"> -<li class="ifrst">Elder, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>, <a href="#Page_159">159</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Elm, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Enchanter’s Nightshade, <a href="#Page_151">151</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Epiphytes, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Eryptogams, <a href="#Page_24">24</a></li> -</ul> -<ul class="index"> -<li class="ifrst">Ferns, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_190">190</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Feterita, <a href="#Page_56">56</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Figwort, <a href="#Page_87">87</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Fir, <a href="#Page_103">103</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Fire Weed, <a href="#Page_47">47</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Flagellates, <a href="#Page_18">18</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Flax, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_216">216</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Four-leaved Clover, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Fox Glove, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>, <a href="#Page_161">161</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Fuchsia, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_93">93</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Fungus, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a></li> -</ul> -<ul class="index"> -<li class="ifrst">Gas Plant, <a href="#Page_135">135</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Gentian, <a href="#Page_97">97</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Giant Cactus, <a href="#Page_67">67</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Goat’s Beard, <a href="#Page_171">171</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Goldenrod, <a href="#Page_184">184</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Gorse, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_97">97</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Gossamer, <a href="#Page_161">161</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Gourd, <a href="#Page_210">210</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Grape, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Grass, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_41">41</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Grass of Parnassus, <a href="#Page_193">193</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Groundsel, <a href="#Page_146">146</a></li> -</ul> -<ul class="index"> -<li class="ifrst">Harebell, <a href="#Page_161">161</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Hawkweed, <a href="#Page_80">80</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Hawkweed Picris, <a href="#Page_171">171</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Hawthorn, <a href="#Page_104">104</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Hazel, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_78">78</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Heliotrope, <a href="#Page_181">181</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Hemlock, <a href="#Page_160">160</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Hemp, <a href="#Page_62">62</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Henna, <a href="#Page_151">151</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Herban, <a href="#Page_158">158</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Herb-Bennett, <a href="#Page_159">159</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Herb-Paris, <a href="#Page_160">160</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Hollyhock, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_97">97</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Hop, <a href="#Page_35">35</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Horse Chestnut, <a href="#Page_104">104</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Hortensia, <a href="#Page_137">137</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Hyacinth, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>, <a href="#Page_192">192</a></li> -</ul> -<ul class="index"> -<li class="ifrst">Ice-Plant, <a href="#Page_171">171</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Imba-uba Tree, <a href="#Page_73">73</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Indian Licorice, <a href="#Page_170">170</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Indian Pipe, <a href="#Page_61">61</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Indigo, <a href="#Page_93">93</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Iris, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_192">192</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Ivy, <a href="#Page_103">103</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Ivy-Geranium, <a href="#Page_108">108</a></li> -</ul> -<ul class="index"> -<li class="ifrst">Jessamine, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Job’s Tears, <a href="#Page_157">157</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Junger Mania, <a href="#Page_127">127</a></li> -</ul> -<ul class="index"> -<li class="ifrst">Lantana, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_54">54</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Laurel, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>, <a href="#Page_182">182</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Leek, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>, <a href="#Page_184">184</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Legumes, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_31">31</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Lepidodendrons, <a href="#Page_24">24</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Lettuce, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_158">158</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Lichen, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_60">60</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Lilac, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_97">97</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Lily, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Lime, <a href="#Page_78">78</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Linden, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_46">46</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Liverwort, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_22">22</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Lomatophylos, <a href="#Page_24">24</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Loosestrife, <a href="#Page_77">77</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Lotus, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Love in the Mist, <a href="#Page_193">193</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Lucerne, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_93">93</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Luck Flower, <a href="#Page_160">160</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Luminous Peridineas, <a href="#Page_139">139</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Lupine, <a href="#Page_86">86</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Lycoperdon, <a href="#Page_159">159</a></li> -</ul> -<ul class="index"> -<li class="ifrst">Magnolia, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Maiden-Hair Fern, <a href="#Page_145">145</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Maize, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_216">216</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Mandrake, <a href="#Page_179">179</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Mani Blight, <a href="#Page_55">55</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Manioc, <a href="#Page_26">26</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Maple, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_208">208</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Mares’ Tails, <a href="#Page_24">24</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Marigold, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>, <a href="#Page_171">171</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Melastroma Plant, <a href="#Page_73">73</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Melon, <a href="#Page_82">82</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Mermidones, <a href="#Page_73">73</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Mexican Grape, <a href="#Page_66">66</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Mildew, <a href="#Page_61">61</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Milkweed, <a href="#Page_102">102</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Mimosa, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Mistletoe, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Molluka, <a href="#Page_146">146</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Monotropa, <a href="#Page_61">61</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Monstera, <a href="#Page_191">191</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Moonflower, <a href="#Page_171">171</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Moon-Plant, <a href="#Page_151">151</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Moonwart, <a href="#Page_160">160</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Morning Glory, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Moss, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_190">190</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Mountain Laurel, <a href="#Page_88">88</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Mulberry, <a href="#Page_51">51</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Mullein, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Murderer Liana, <a href="#Page_206">206</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Myrtle, <a href="#Page_182">182</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Myxomycetes, <a href="#Page_194">194</a></li> -</ul> -<ul class="index"> -<li class="ifrst">Naked Stalked Poppy, <a href="#Page_171">171</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Narcissus, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Nasturtium, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Navel Orange, <a href="#Page_56">56</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Nephelium, <a href="#Page_139">139</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Nettle, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Night-Blooming Cereus, <a href="#Page_171">171</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Night-Shade, <a href="#Page_159">159</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Nostoc, <a href="#Page_22">22</a></li> -</ul> -<ul class="index"> -<li class="ifrst">Oak, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Olive, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>, <a href="#Page_182">182</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Onion, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Opuntia, <a href="#Page_197">197</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Orange, <a href="#Page_56">56</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Orchid, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Oscillating Sainfoin, <a href="#Page_126">126</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Oxalis, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_125">125</a></li> -</ul> -<ul class="index"> -<li class="ifrst">Palm, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>, <a href="#Page_182">182</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Pansy, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Papyrus, <a href="#Page_103">103</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Paradox Berry, <a href="#Page_220">220</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Parnassia, <a href="#Page_127">127</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Parsley, <a href="#Page_164">164</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Passion Flower, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>, <a href="#Page_197">197</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Pea, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_163">163</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Peach, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_220">220</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Pear, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_220">220</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Pelargoniums, <a href="#Page_97">97</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Peony, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Persimmon, <a href="#Page_26">26</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Phenomenal Berry, <a href="#Page_220">220</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Pigweed, <a href="#Page_49">49</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Pimpernel, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>, <a href="#Page_169">169</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Pine, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>, <a href="#Page_208">208</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Pink, <a href="#Page_145">145</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Pistachio, <a href="#Page_82">82</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Plane, <a href="#Page_26">26</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Plum, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>, <a href="#Page_220">220</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Plumcot, <a href="#Page_220">220</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Poa Annua, <a href="#Page_40">40</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Polyanthus, <a href="#Page_79">79</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Polygalas, <a href="#Page_93">93</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Polygonums Tree, <a href="#Page_73">73</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Pomegranate, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_151">151</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Pond Lily, <a href="#Page_91">91</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Pond Weeds, <a href="#Page_83">83</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Poplar, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Poppy, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Potato, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>, <a href="#Page_216">216</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Potentillas, <a href="#Page_192">192</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Prickly Pear, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a href="#Page_197">197</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Primrose, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>, <a href="#Page_192">192</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Privet, <a href="#Page_105">105</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Protozoa, <a href="#Page_12">12</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Prune, <a href="#Page_220">220</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Psilophyton, <a href="#Page_24">24</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Puff-Ball, <a href="#Page_159">159</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Purple Orchid, <a href="#Page_146">146</a></li> -</ul> -<ul class="index"> -<li class="ifrst">Quince, <a href="#Page_220">220</a></li> -</ul> -<ul class="index"> -<li class="ifrst">Rafflesia Arnoldi, <a href="#Page_64">64</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Ragwort, <a href="#Page_160">160</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Raspberry, <a href="#Page_220">220</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Rattlesnake Iris, <a href="#Page_116">116</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Red Anemone, <a href="#Page_146">146</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Redwood, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Rhododendron, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Rice, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_216">216</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Rock-Lichens, <a href="#Page_75">75</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Rose, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>, <a href="#Page_184">184</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Rose of Jericho, <a href="#Page_146">146</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Rose-blight, <a href="#Page_61">61</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Rosemary, <a href="#Page_181">181</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Rue, <a href="#Page_159">159</a></li> -</ul> -<ul class="index"> -<li class="ifrst">Saffron, <a href="#Page_51">51</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Sage, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>, <a href="#Page_116">116</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Sainfoin, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_146">146</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Scarlet Runner, <a href="#Page_91">91</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Sea Holly, <a href="#Page_98">98</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Sea Poppy, <a href="#Page_160">160</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Sensitive Plant, <a href="#Page_130">130</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Sequoia, <a href="#Page_26">26</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Service Tree, <a href="#Page_191">191</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Shamrock, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>, <a href="#Page_184">184</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Shasta Daisy, <a href="#Page_220">220</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Siberian Raspberry, <a href="#Page_220">220</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Sigillarias, <a href="#Page_24">24</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Silene, <a href="#Page_78">78</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Silver Fir, <a href="#Page_26">26</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Smilax, <a href="#Page_116">116</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Snowberry, <a href="#Page_105">105</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Snowdrop, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_182">182</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Soma, <a href="#Page_151">151</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Sow-Thistle, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>, <a href="#Page_171">171</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Spanish Moss, <a href="#Page_65">65</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Spinach, <a href="#Page_51">51</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Spineless Cactus, <a href="#Page_221">221</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Spotted Persicaria, <a href="#Page_146">146</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Spruce, <a href="#Page_26">26</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Squash, <a href="#Page_168">168</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Squirting Cucumber, <a href="#Page_116">116</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Stapelia, <a href="#Page_87">87</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Star-Flower, <a href="#Page_163">163</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Stinging Nettle, <a href="#Page_75">75</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Strawberry, <a href="#Page_146">146</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">String Bean, <a href="#Page_105">105</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst"><abbr title="saint">St.</abbr> John’s Wort, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>, <a href="#Page_161">161</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Sudan Grass, <a href="#Page_56">56</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Sugar Cane, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_116">116</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Sundew <a href="#Page_193">193</a>, <a href="#Page_197">197</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Sunflower, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Sweet Gum, <a href="#Page_102">102</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Sweet Pea, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Sweet Potato, <a href="#Page_109">109</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Sycamore, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a></li> -</ul> -<ul class="index"> -<li class="ifrst">Tea, <a href="#Page_217">217</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Thistle, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>, <a href="#Page_184">184</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Thorn-Apple, <a href="#Page_104">104</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Thyme, <a href="#Page_146">146</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Tigridias, <a href="#Page_221">221</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Toadstool, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>, <a href="#Page_162">162</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Tobacco, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_62">62</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Tococa, <a href="#Page_73">73</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Touch-me-not, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_181">181</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Tree-ferns, <a href="#Page_24">24</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Trefoil, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_165">165</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Trumpet Vine, <a href="#Page_97">97</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Tulip, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_162">162</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Tumble Weed, <a href="#Page_46">46</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Turmeric, <a href="#Page_157">157</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Turnip, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a></li> -</ul> -<ul class="index"> -<li class="ifrst">Vallisneria, <a href="#Page_206">206</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Venus Fly-Trap, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <a href="#Page_200">200</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Verbena, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Veronica, <a href="#Page_125">125</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Vervain, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>, <a href="#Page_160">160</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Vetch, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Victoria Regia, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_118">118</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Violet, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_181">181</a></li> -</ul> -<ul class="index"> -<li class="ifrst">Walnut, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Water Chestnut, <a href="#Page_92">92</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Water Hyacinth, <a href="#Page_52">52</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Water Lily, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, <a href="#Page_133">133</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Watermelon, <a href="#Page_51">51</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Weather-Plant, <a href="#Page_170">170</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Weeping Willow, <a href="#Page_100">100</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Wheat, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_217">217</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Wheat-Rust, <a href="#Page_61">61</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Wild Anemone, <a href="#Page_181">181</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Willow, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Wistaria, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_176">176</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Witch Hazel, <a href="#Page_116">116</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Wolffias, <a href="#Page_46">46</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Wood-Anemone, <a href="#Page_162">162</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Woodroof, <a href="#Page_146">146</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Wood-Sorrel, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>, <a href="#Page_165">165</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Wormwood, <a href="#Page_151">151</a></li> -</ul> -<ul class="index"> -<li class="ifrst">Xanthium Spinosum, <a href="#Page_37">37</a></li> -</ul> -<ul class="index"> -<li class="ifrst">Yam, <a href="#Page_26">26</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Yellow Narcissus, <a href="#Page_148">148</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Yew, <a href="#Page_160">160</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Yucca, <a href="#Page_90">90</a></li> -</ul> -<ul class="index"> -<li class="ifrst">Zoochlorella, <a href="#Page_61">61</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Zooxanthella, <a href="#Page_61">61</a></li> -</ul> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter transnote"> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="Transcribers_Notes">Transcriber’s Notes</h2> - - -<p>Page <a href="#Page_14">14</a>: “in the consciouness” changed to “in the consciousness”</p> - -<p>Page <a href="#Page_24">24</a>: “trees called Calamities” changed to “trees called Calamites”</p> - -<p>Page <a href="#Page_25">25</a>: “many excellent speciments” changed to “many excellent -specimens”</p> - -<p>Page <a href="#Page_26">26</a> and <a href="#INDEX">Index</a>: “Manico” changed to “Manioc”</p> - -<p>Page <a href="#Page_29">29</a>: “herbacious annual” changed to “herbaceous annual”</p> - -<p>Page <a href="#Page_42">42</a>: “Chesnut and Elm” changed to “Chestnut and Elm”</p> - -<p>Page <a href="#Page_51">51</a>: “Cucumber, Lucern” changed to “Cucumber, Lucerne”</p> - -<p>Page <a href="#Page_55">55</a>: “propogation purposes” changed to “propagation purposes”; -“objectional” changed to “objectionable”</p> - -<p>Page <a href="#Page_62">62</a>: “Prominate among” changed to “Prominent among”</p> - -<p>Page <a href="#Page_64">64</a>: “Rafflessia Arnoldi” changed to “Rafflesia Arnoldi”</p> - -<p>Page <a href="#Page_78">78</a>: “under the miscrope” changed to “under the microscope” “devoid -of proturberances” changed to “devoid of protuberances”</p> - -<p>Page <a href="#Page_79">79</a>: “Azalias, and Fuchias” changed to “Azalias, and Fuchsias”</p> - -<p>Page <a href="#Page_97">97</a>: “Pelargoiums” changed to “Pelargoniums”</p> - -<p>Page <a href="#Page_121">121</a>: “<i>Sumatratran</i> species” changed to “<i>Sumatran</i> -species”</p> - -<p>Page <a href="#Page_125">125</a>: “quite inconspicous” changed to “quite inconspicuous”</p> - -<p>Page <a href="#Page_131">131</a> & <a href="#Page_189">189</a>: “carniverous plants” changed to “carnivorous plants”</p> - -<p>Page <a href="#Page_132">132</a>: “have aquired” changed to “have acquired”</p> - -<p>Page <a href="#Page_148">148</a>: “Whoever posseses” changed to “Whoever possesses”</p> - -<p>Page <a href="#Page_152">152</a>: “The Belladona” changed to “The Belladonna”</p> - -<p>Page <a href="#Page_157">157</a>: “Tumeric” changed to “Turmeric”</p> - -<p>Page <a href="#Page_171">171</a>: “marvelous aquaintance” changed to “marvelous acquaintance”</p> - -<p>Page <a href="#Page_174">174</a>: “Primose Schlüsselblume” changed to “Primrose Schlüsselblume”</p> - -<p>Page <a href="#Page_175">175</a>: “Olives, Jasamines” changed to “Olives, Jessamines”</p> - -<p>Page <a href="#Page_190">190</a>: “seed-animalicules” changed to “seed-animalcules”</p> - -<p>Page <a href="#Page_202">202</a>: “in Protoza” changed to “in Protozoa”</p> - -<p>Page <a href="#Page_206">206</a>: “giving away” changed to “giving way” “villian” changed to -“villain”</p> - -<p>Page <a href="#Page_208">208</a>: “aristrocatic Pine” changed to “aristocratic Pine”</p> - -<p>Page <a href="#Page_221">221</a>: “is suectacular” changed to “is spectacular”</p> - -<p>The <a href="#CONTENTS">Table of Contents</a> in the original was missing the chapter on Science in the Plant World, which has been added. 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