THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 65 



they occupy, but they would do this very slowly if the 

 seeds fell straight downward to the earth from the parent 

 plants. Since plants cannot move about to scatter their 

 seeds, they have been obliged to make use of other agencies 

 of transportation, and the wind, the water, the birds, the 

 mammals, even man himself, have been called into service. 



The wind is perhaps the principal carrier. To it are 

 entrusted all the seeds with wings like those of maple, ash, 

 hop-tree, elm, etc., as well as all those with feathery para- 

 chutes, such as are found in the dandelion, thistle, milk- 

 weed, Cottonwood, wallow, fireweed and a host of others. 

 Man3^ small seeds, too, that possess niether wings nor 

 parachutes, are small enough to be blown some distances 

 by the wind especially if they are not shed until the snow 

 has spread a smooth covering overthe fields. The tumble- 

 w^eeds, instead of equipping their seeds with wings, secure 

 seed dispersal b}- breaking off near the ground and then 

 rolling and tumbling before the wind scattering their seeds 

 as they go. A more perfect example of a plant traveling 

 about to sow its seeds could scarcely be imagined. With 

 regard to wind-sown seeds it is of interest to note that 

 seeds with wings are always borne on trees or bushes from 

 whence they are likely to be borne some distance by the 

 wind before they reach the earth. Ballooning seeds like 

 those of the dandelion may be borne near the earth since 

 they rise with the least current of air. 



Various heavy fruits may float long distances in the 

 water, and others may be carried about by animals. 

 Many of these latter get eaten, to be sure, but many are 

 left or forgotten and some are pretty sure of a favorable 

 situation for growth. 



Another favorite trick of the plant is to enclose a hard 

 seed in a juicy pulp. Such seeds are usually inedible and if 

 swallowed pass through the digestive organs unharmed. 

 The pulp, therefore, may be looked upon as the payment 

 the plants make to birds and mammals for distributing 

 the seeds. That this is a most successful method there can 

 be little doubt. One of our wild cherries is called fire- 



