Botany; Geotropism; Plants -- Irritability and movements
The cotyledons of several plants were prepared for trial, but the
weather was mild and we succeeded only in a single instance in having
seedlings of the proper age on nights which were clear and cold. The
cotyledons of 6 seedlings of Mimosa pudica were fastened open on cork
and were thus exposed for 1 h. 45 m. to a clear sky, with the
temperature on the surrounding ground at 29° F.; of these, 3 were
killed. Two other seedlings, after their cotyledons had risen up and
had closed together, were bent over and fastened so that they stood
horizontally, with the lower surface of one cotyledon fully exposed to
the zenith, and both were killed. Therefore of the 8 seedlings thus
tried 5, or more than half, were killed. Seven other seedlings with
their cotyledons in their normal nocturnal position, viz., vertical and
closed, were exposed at the same time, and of these only 2 were
killed.[12] Hence it appears, as far as these few trials tell anything,
that the vertical position at night of the cotyledons of Mimosa pudica
protects them to a certain degree from the evil effects of radiation
and cold.
[12] We were surprised that young seedlings of so tropical a plant as
Mimosa pudica were able to resist, as well as they did, exposure for 1
hr. 45 m. to a clear sky, the temperature on the surrounding ground
being 29° F. It may be added that seedlings of the Indian ‘Cassia
pubescens’ were exposed for 1 h. 30 m. to a clear sky, with the temp.
on the surrounding ground at –2° C., and they were not in the least
injured.
Concluding Remarks on the Radiation from Leaves at Night.—We exposed on
two occasions during the summer to a clear sky several pinned-open
leaflets of Trifolium pratense, which naturally rise at night, and of
Oxalis purpurea, which naturally sink at night (the plants growing out
of doors), and looked at
them early on several successive mornings, after they had assumed their
diurnal positions. The difference in the amount of dew on the
pinned-open leaflets and on those which had gone to sleep was generally
conspicuous; the latter being sometimes absolutely dry, whilst the
leaflets which had been horizontal were coated with large beads of dew.
This shows how much cooler the leaflets fully exposed to the zenith
must have become, than those which stood almost vertically, either
upwards or downwards, during the night.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account