Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 271, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 11 November 1916 — PLANT THAT MAKES “ICE” [ARTICLE]

PLANT THAT MAKES “ICE”

Habits of "the Frost Weed Have Long Proved a Puzzle to Botanists. Late in autumn, after producing two sets of blooms, the frost weed becomes -ar- miniature icefactory and forms crystals of “ice” about the cracked bark of the root. On each little broken rootlet there appear cakes of “ice,” exactly’ right in size for the refrigerator of a fairy queen. As yet no botanist has been able to discover the secret of the plant’s ice-making. The ice appears often long before IbeUs formed on the ponds, and can be found by digging up the deeply set rootlets. Two blooming seasons is another peculiarity of the plant. Early in June it sends out a wealth of golden yellow blossoms, having five petals each and set at intervals upon the thickly leaved stem. « Therf late in Augus.t--th£ plant flowers again, producing bloomsMdentical with those of the earlier season.