Rensselaer Union, Volume 7, Number 20, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 February 1875 — Discovery of a Lost Plant. [ARTICLE]

Discovery of a Lost Plant.

A short time ago we cited a number of instances wherein the vitality of seeds had been preserved for a long period of years. There has lately come to light a fresh case, which will rank among the most curious on record. The mines of Laurinm, m Greece, which were worked about 1,600 years ago, are, in a great measure, composed of scoria, or the refuse of ancient mines, which still yields a high percentage of silver. In clear, ing away a mass of this refuse a quantity of seeds were discovered, which must have been buried for at least fifteen centuries. Restored to conditions favorable for germination, to the heat of the sun and contact with the air, the seeds gave signs of life, burst their buds, and sent down roots into the earth, and threw up stems into the light. When these last hao bndded and blossomed, lo! a lost species of the geans Glancium {horned poppy) of the order Papavcracea was revealed. Pliny and Dioscorides frequently describe the flower in their writings with great particularity, as its golden corclla is very beautiful; but it has hitherto been unknown to modern science. Now the plant which had disappeared from the face of the globe for 1,500 yeani or more is resuscitated by a strange and happy accident.—Chicago TYibtmc.