ON FRUITS AND SEEDS. 



163 



tlie seed to its base gives way, and it is ejected several feet, this being 

 no doubt much facilitated by its form and smoothness. I have known 

 even a gathered specimen throw a seed nearly ten feet. Fig. 5 repre- 

 sents a capsule after the seeds have been ejected. 



Now, we naturally ask ourselves what is the reason for this difference 

 between the species of violets ; why do Viola odoratu and Viola Tiirta 

 conceal their capsules among the moss and leaves on the ground, while 

 Yiola canina and others raise theirs boldly above their heads, and throw 

 the seeds to seek their fortune in the world ? If this arrangement be 

 best for Viola canina, why has not Viola odorata also adopted it ? 

 The reason is, I believe, to be found in the different mode of growth 

 of these two species. Viola canina is a plant with an elongated stalk, 

 and it is easy, therefore, for the capsule to raise itself above the grass 

 and other low herbage among which violets grow. 



tJ^ 



Fig. 6. The Herb-robert {Geranium Bobertianum,') a, bud ; b, flower ; c, flower after the petals 

 nave fallen ; d, flower with seeds nearly ripe : e, flower with ripe seeds : /, flower after throw- 

 ing seeds. j f > , tr > ^ 



Viola odorata and Viola hirta, on the contrary, have, in ordinary 

 parlance, no stalk, and the leaves are radical, i. e., rising from the root. 

 This is at least the case in appearance, for, botanically speaking, they 

 rise at the end of a short stalk. Now, under these circumstances, if 



