294 



PROTECTION OF YOUNG 



, . .j„,,,J,.j( [.Jiriiji 





See^ 



^ ^, dandelion larkspur* , > 



clematis ^ cc ppl e 



^ .style 

 -stocmen. 



Fruits and seeds are frequently adapted for dispersal from the parent plant. Winglike and 

 feathery structures are adaptations for wind dispersal ; barbs and sweet fleshy parts are adapta- 

 tions for dispersal by animals. 



point and then stops. A surplus of nourishment, in the form 

 of endosperm or cotyledons, may be stored about the young em- 

 bryo. Additional protective covers generally grow about the seed. 

 All of these processes and structures are clearly related to pro- 

 tecting the young plant and supplying it with nourishment that 

 it can use until it develops the leaves which make its own food. 

 The seed cover, or the fruit, often possesses a variety of struc- 

 tures such as wings, stickers, fleshy pulp, or down, which aid the 

 young seed to travel some distance from the parent plant. These 

 structures are also the result of parental activity, and they con- 

 tribute to conditions that make for the favorable growth of the 

 young plant. If the young plants were to grow too close to the 

 parent plant, they might not secure sufficient sunlight for starch 

 manufacture nor enough minerals from the soil for protein man- 



