Harvest Watercooler

Telling time via circadian rhythm of flowers: Carl Linnaeus’ 1751 clock concept.

Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778) observed over a number of years that the flowers of many plants opened and closed periodically and that these times varied from species to species. Arranged in sequence of flowering over the day, they constituted a kind of floral clock or Horologium Florae as Linnaeus called it in his Philisophia Botanica (Vienna, 1751).

During the first half of the 19th century Botanic Gardens tried to construct floral clocks, but with no great success since many of the plants listed by Linnaeus do not flower at the same season.

via @bobulate