Photographers might be amazed to learn that a very old garden perennial could furnish enough light to be photographed at night long before the modern flashbulb or speedlight was invented.
Such a plant is the Dictamnus albus, appropriately called the “gas-plant” or “burning bush.”
The flower stalks of Dictamnus (pronounced dick-TAM-nuss) are heavily coated with rusty-colored glands which contain a fragrant, volatile oil that ignites and produces a momentary flash of light when a lighted match is brought to the base of a cluster of flowers.
Capture The Breathtaking Phenomenon On Film
This phenomenon can be recorded on film if a camera is placed on a tripod and focused on the flowers to be photographed.
With the film in place, the shutter opened on TIME, and the diaphragm set at about f/5.6, the stage is set for the flash.
The shutter is then closed, and on the film should be a record of the gas-plant ablaze.
Each flower cluster can be ignited only once and is not harmed nor singed by the brief flame.
Fragrant Dictamnus Albus
Dictamnus emits a strong but pleasant odor.
The family Rutaceae to which dictamnus belongs includes such fragrant plants as:
- Citrus fruits
- Phellodendron or cork tree
- The pungent rue of the herb garden
Discovery Of The Gas-Plant
One wonders who first discovered that gas-plant flower stalks would ignite.
Dictamnus grows wild in a wide area from Southern Europe to Northern China and has been a garden favorite for centuries.
In one of the early herbals, Wylliam Turner, in 1551, told of the “perfume of the smoke,” and John Gerarde in 1597 described and illustrated the plant without referring to its inflammability.
In 1788 in La Physique des Arbes, M. Dultamel du Monceau mentioned that the plant would ignite on a still and sultry evening.
It is understandable that if the air is still, there is a greater accumulation of gas to ignite, but a sultry night is not essential.
If there are frequent rains in the period when dictamnus is in bloom, much of the volatile oil is washed away.
The ideal time to try for a picture is a quiet evening in May.
Gas-Plant’s Unique Seed Dispersal
The gas plant is also unique in the way it ejects its seeds.
Every capsule is divided into 5 segments, each furnished with a trigger which, when dry, disperses the shiny, black seeds.
If seed stalks are covered with a paper bag just before the capsules are completely dry, a periodic bombardment continues in the bag for several days as the seeds are forcibly ejected.
Best Way To Transplant Dictamnus Albus
Dictamnus has been grown in gardens for many years and is one of those perennials which dislikes being disturbed.
In fact, the plant resents being transplanted, and a young one is easier to move than an established chimp.
Young plants may be purchased from most nurseries and may also be grown from seed sown outdoors in a frame in the fall.
The following spring, the seedlings should be thinned or transplanted and left to grow in the frame the first year.
By the second spring, they can be moved to their permanent place in the garden.