A TREE THAT BLUSHES.
Among' the' many wonders (of the vast Florida swamps there is nothing more remarkable than the "blushing tree." It actually blushes when the rain falls upon it. The mysterious and beautiful glow of colours whiclTlt assumes in a rainstorm baffles description. Gradually, yet unmistakably, the green hue gives way to pink. In a few minutes the green fades frjom sight. Only on a few half-hidden spot s beneath broad branches and on its trunk there is a tinge of green to be seen. The tree is as pink as the cheek of a healthy girl. After an hour or more, when the shower has passed over, the wonderful tree resumes its familiar green once more.
As it is changing, back the spectator suddenly realises the secret of the phenomenon; certain tiny insects, and not the tree itself, change colour. These peculiar parasites are possessed of the power of chameleons. In the bright warm sunshine they are greener than the tree on which they live. But when the chilly rain falls upon them they contract their tiny back's and become a pretty pink in colour. Millions of these change the tint of the tree, and impart to it a blushing- aspect.
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Rodney and Otamatea Times, Waitemata and Kaipara Gazette, 18 September 1912, Page 7
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204A TREE THAT BLUSHES. Rodney and Otamatea Times, Waitemata and Kaipara Gazette, 18 September 1912, Page 7
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