I5I6 



A TEXTBOOK OF THEORETICAL BOTANY 



Fig. 1384. — Liliiim (Caniiocrinum) giganteum. Seeds 

 with surrounding wings. 



the most abundant species of its genus, at least in Britain, has also winged 

 seeds, and so have some of the taller Gentians and Lilies and the tall 

 Eremurus, but they are exceptional (Fig. 1385). 



t'lG. 1385.- Eitniuiiis bini^ti. Seeds with unilateral wmys, which are both right and left 

 handed with respect to the flat side of the seed. 



The wings, in all the above examples, are expansions of the testa. 

 Clivia, a member of the Amaryllidaceae, is exceptional in that the wing, 

 although attached to the seed, is an outgrowth of the placenta. The seeds 

 are rather large and heavy so that it is not likely to be very effective as a 

 means of dispersal. 



Plumed seeds are far commoner than winged seeds and are to be found 

 in all groups of Angiosperms. They are generally small and are always 

 contained in capsule fruits, usually elongate and dehiscing slowly, as in 

 Epilotium, so that the seeds are released in a long succession (Fig. 1386). 

 The two families in which plumed seeds are most frequent are the Apo- 



