Linnaeus's flower clock

Linnaeus's flower clock was a garden plan hypothesized by Carl Linnaeus that would take advantage of several plants that open or close their flowers at particular times of the day to accurately indicate the time. According to Linnaeus's autobiographical notes, he discovered and developed the floral clock in 1748. It builds on the fact that there are species of plants that open or close their flowers at set times of day. He proposed the concept in his 1751 publication Philosophia Botanica, calling it the horologium florae (lit. 'flower clock'). His observations of how plants changed over time are summarised in several publications. Calendarium florae (the Flower Almanack) describes the seasonal changes in nature and the botanic garden during the year 1755. In Somnus plantarum (the Sleep of

Linnaeus's flower clock

Linnaeus's flower clock was a garden plan hypothesized by Carl Linnaeus that would take advantage of several plants that open or close their flowers at particular times of the day to accurately indicate the time. According to Linnaeus's autobiographical notes, he discovered and developed the floral clock in 1748. It builds on the fact that there are species of plants that open or close their flowers at set times of day. He proposed the concept in his 1751 publication Philosophia Botanica, calling it the horologium florae (lit. 'flower clock'). His observations of how plants changed over time are summarised in several publications. Calendarium florae (the Flower Almanack) describes the seasonal changes in nature and the botanic garden during the year 1755. In Somnus plantarum (the Sleep of