Mythical Clytie’s Gyrations still Spin at the Top of the World

by Peter G. Kevan

Clytie, head craning round and surrounded by sepals.

It is almost magical that some flowers, which we expect to stay put, move as the sun moves across the sky. Plants around the world, which include a surprising number from the Arctic, have a habit of tracking the sun.

Scientists seek reasons for such sun-wise plant behaviour, but the first attempts to explain it come from ancient myth. Consider the story of Clytie. She appears in Metamorphoses, a collection of mythical tales written in about 8 AD by the classical Roman poet, Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso, 8; Golding and Forey 2002). Ovid’s characters often transform into plants and animals, thanks to capriciousness, fate and the whims of Titans, gods and their offspring.  



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