"With this lengthening and bending of the stamens and stigmas," says Dr. Kerner, "goes hand in hand the opening and shutting of the corolla. With the approach of dusk, the bifid limbs of the petals spread out in a flat surface and fall back against the calyx. In this position they remain through the night, and not till the following morning do they begin (more quickly in sunshine and with a mild temperature, more slowly with a cloudy sky and in cold, wet weather) to curl themselves up in an in-curved spire, while at the same time they form longitudinal creases, and look as though they were gathered in, or wrinkled;…but no sooner does evening return than the wrinkles disappear, the petals become smooth, uncurl themselves, and fall back upon the calyx, and the corolla is again expanded."
Curiously enough, these flowers, which by day we should certainly say were not fragrant, give forth a strong perfume at evening the better to guide moths to their feast. From eight in the evening until three in the morning the fragrance is especially strong. The white blossoms, so conspicuous at night, have little attraction for color-loving butterflies and bees by day; then, as there is no pollen to be carried from the shriveled anther sacs, no visitor is welcome, and the petals close to protect the nectar for the flower's true benefactors. Indeed, few flowers show more thorough adaptation to the night-flying moths than these Silene.
POKEWEED; SCOKE; PIGEON-BERRY; INK-BERRY; GARGET
(Phytolacca decandra) Pokeweed family
Flowers - White, with a green centre, pink-tinted outside, about 1/4 in. across, in bracted racemes 2 to 8 in. long. Calyx of 4 or 5 rounded persistent sepals, simulating petals; no corolla; 10 short stamens; 10-celled ovary, green, conspicuous; styles curved. Stem: Stout, pithy, erect, branching, reddening toward the end of summer, 4 to 10 ft. tall, from a large, perennial, poisonous root. Leaves: Alternate, petioled, oblong to lance-shaped, tapering at both ends, 8 to 12 in. long. Fruit: Very juicy, dark purplish berries, hanging in long clusters from reddened footstalks; ripe, August-October. Preferred Habitat - Roadsides, thickets, field borders, and waste soil, especially in burnt-over districts. Flowering Season - June-October. Distribution - Maine and Ontario to Florida and Texas.
When the pokeweed is "all on fire with ripeness," as Thoreau said; when the stout, vigorous stem (which he coveted for a cane), the large leaves, and even the footstalks, take on splendid tints of crimson lake, and the dark berries hang heavy with juice in the thickets, then the birds, with increased, hungry families, gather in flocks as a preliminary step to traveling southward. Has the brilliant, strong-scented plant no ulterior motive in thus attracting their attention at this particular time? Surely! Robins, flickers, and downy woodpeckers, chewinks and rose-breasted grosbeaks, among other feathered agents, may be detected in the act of gormandizing on the fruit, whose undigested seeds they will disperse far and wide. Their droppings form the best of fertilizers for young seedlings; therefore the plants which depend on birds to distribute seeds, as most berry bearers do, send their children abroad to found new colonies, well equipped for a vigorous start in life. What a hideous mockery to continue to call this fruit the pigeon-berry, when the exquisite bird whose favorite food it once was, has been annihilated from this land of liberty by the fowler's net! And yet flocks of wild pigeons, containing not thousands but millions of birds, nested here even thirty years ago. When the market became glutted with them, they were fed to hogs in the West!
Children, and some grown-ups, find the deep magenta juice of the ink-berry useful. Notwithstanding the poisonous properties of the root, in some sections the young shoots are boiled and eaten like asparagus, evidently with no disastrous consequences. For any service this plant may render to man and bird, they are under special obligation to the little Halictus bees, but to other short-tongued bees and flies as well. These small visitors, flying from such of the flowers as mature their anthers first, carry pollen to those in the female, or pistillate, stage. Exposed nectar rewards their involuntary kindness. In stormy weather, when no benefactors can fly, the flowers are adapted to fertilize themselves through the curving of the styles.
COMMON CHICKWEED
(Aisine media; Stellaria media of Gray) Pink family
Flowers - Small, white, on slender pedicels from leaf axils, also in terminal clusters. Calyx (usually) of 5 sepals, much longer than the 5 (usually) 2-parted petals; 2-10 stamens; 3 or 4 styles. Stem: Weak, branched, tufted, leafy, 4 to 6 in long, a hairy fringe on one side. Leaves: Opposite, acutely oval, lower ones petioled, upper ones seated on stem. Preferred Habitat - Moist, shady soil; woods; meadows. Flowering Season - Throughout the year. Distribution - Almost universal.
The sole use man has discovered for this often pestiferous weed with which nature carpets moist soil the world around is to feed caged song-birds. What is the secret of the insignificant little plant's triumphal progress? Like most immigrants that have undergone ages of selective struggle in the Old World, it successfully competes with our native blossoms by readily adjusting itself to new conditions, filling places unoccupied, and chiefly by prolonging its season of bloom beyond theirs, to get relief from the pressure of competition for insect trade in the busy season. Except during the most cruel frosts, there is scarcely a day in the year when we may not find the little star-like chickweed flowers. Contrast this season with that of a native chickweed, the LONG-LEAVED STITCHWORT [LONG-LEAVED CHICKWEED] (A. longifolia [S. longifolia]), blooming only from May till July, when competition is fiercest! Also, the common chickweed has its parts so arranged that it can fertilize itself when it is too cold for insect pollen-carriers to fly; then, especially, are many of its stamens abortive, not to waste the precious dust. Yet even in winter it produces abundant seed. In sunny, fine spring weather, however, when so much nectar is secreted the fine little drops may be easily seen by the naked eye, small bees, flies, and even thrips visit the blossoms whose anthers shed pollen one by one before the three stigmatic surfaces are ready to receive any from younger flowers.
SWEET-SCENTED WHITE WATER LILY; POND LILY; WATER NYMPH; WATER
CABBAGE [FRAGRANT WATER-LILY]
(Castalia odorata; Nymphaea odorata of Gray) Water-lily family