The waking and sleeping of the water lily is by no means an isolated
instance. My attention was first drawn to another remarkable floral
display by the folk song which begins with:
"Our day of work is over
Like life's span, but an hour!
For now behold the gold-starred fields
Of opening 'Jhinga' flowers!"
Since then I witness every afternoon a glorious transformation in my
experimental garden at Sijbaria on the Ganges. The gardener has planted
a large field with Jhinga (Luffa acutangula). The flowers when closed at
day time are very inconspicuous, the lowest whorl of the sepals being
dull green: in my afternoon walk I can hardly recognise the old familiar
field, which is now covered with masses of flower in their golden glory.
Here also the flowers remain open throughout the night; but they close
early in the morning and the fairy field of cloth of gold vanishes
suddenly.