A PLANT THAT GROWS
IN SNOW
Strangest of all the plants is the Soldanellas, a small species which exists on the lower slopes of the Alps. When the flower stems are in their most active state of growth they release a considerable amount of heat. In this way they will bore a course up through a thick coating of ice and snow to the light and air above, when by some means the plant is aware that the spring has arrived. There seems to be something more wonderful in this than can be explained by mere mechanical causes. Indeed, the sympathy of the plant with its surroundings is surely one of those mysteries which are as inscrutable as life itself.
THE PRIMARY USE OF LIQUID
RUBBER TO PLANTS
The grubs of many beetles live in wood, upon which they feed. This probably gives a clue to the primary use of the important commercial substances india-rubber and guttapercha, which are the dried sticky juices of various shrubs and trees growing in hot climates. Beetles of the wood-boring kind, which seek to pierce and lay eggs in such plants, are liable to be snarled and killed by the viscid fluids which ooze out.
Arums, and various other plants, ward off the attacks of snails and slugs in a rather curious way The outer parts of their stems and leafstalks contain bundles of excessively sharp crystals (raphides), composed of oxalate of lime. These pierce the soft mouths of snails and slugs like so many needles, conveying a lesson which usually needs no repetition.
STRANGE LIFE HABITS OF UNUSUAL PLANTS
The Giant Cactus of the American Desert
These plants are little more than succulent stems covered with a thick skin which retains the moisture of the juicy shoot.