Wondrous Weather Plant.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 880, 11 January 1889, Page 4

Wondrous Weather Plant.

That remarkable specimen of the vegetable world, 4 the weather plant,’ continues to excite considerable interest here. Men of ecience, who on its first discovery were unwilling to express an opinion on its prog- 1 nosticating virtues, now agree, afeer extensive experiments, that tho shrub is in truth prophetic. Thirty-two thousand trials made during the last three years tend to prove its infallibility. The plant itielf is a legume, commonly called the ‘ paternoster pea,’ but known in botany as the Abrus Pereginns. It is a native of Corsica and Tunis. Its leaf and twig strongly resemble those of the acacia. The more delicate leaves of its upper branches foretell the state of the weather forty-eight hoars iu advanoe, while its lower and hardier leaves indicate all atmospheric changes three days beforehand. The indications consist in a change in the position of the leaves and in the rise and fall of the twigs and branchlets.—Pall Mall Gazette.