Democratic Sentinel, Volume 19, Number 31, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 August 1895 — A Curious Plant. [ARTICLE]

A Curious Plant.

There is what is called a musical plant found in the West Indies, Nubia and the Soudan. It is of the acacia tribe and has a peculiar shaped leaf and pods with split or open edge. As the wind blows through them it gives out a sound similar to whistling. In Barbadoes, when the trade winds are blowing across the island, these trees give out a constant moaning, deep-toned whistle, interspersed with sounds similar to “fa,” “me,” or other half tones, which in the still hours of the night have a weird, mournful effect. The sound given by those of Nubia and the Soudan are caused by the ravages of insects, whose larvae insert themselves into the trunks, causing them to swell and become distorted. After these have been hatched and leave their nests, the wind plays upon the open spaces, producing sweet sounding tones similar to those of a flute. Many strange and often pleasing sounds are heard in the dense tropical forests of the East which are caused in the same manner.