By
rubbing the footstalk of a young leaf with a twig a few times on
any side, Darwin found a clematis leaf would bend to that side in
the course of a few hours, but return to the straight again if
nothing remained on which to hook itself. "To show how sensitive
the young petioles are," he wrote, "I may mention that I just
touched the undersides of two with a little watercolor which,
when dry, formed an excessively thin and minute crust but this
sufficed in twenty-four hours to cause both to bend downwards."
In early autumn, when the long, silvery, decorative plumes
attached to a ball of seeds form feathery, hoary masses even more
fascinating than the flower clusters, the name of old man's beard
is most suggestive. These seeds never open, but, when ripe, each
is borne on the autumn gales, to sink into the first moist,
springy resting place.
The English counterpart of our virgin's bower is fragrant.
TALL MEADOW-RUE
(Thalictrum polyganum; T. Cornuti of Gray) Crowfoot family
Flowers - Greenish white, the calyx of 4 or 5 sepals, falling
early; no petals; numerous white, thread-like, green-tipped
stamens, spreading in feathery tufts, borne in large, loose,
compound terminal clusters 1 ft.
Pages:
422
423
424
425
426
427
428
429
430
431
432
433
434
435
436
437
438
439
440
441
442
443
444
445
446