Published monthly by The Agassiz Association, ArcAdiA; Sound Beach, Connecticut, 



Subscription, $1.00 a year Single copy, 10 cents 



Entered as Second-Class Matter June 12, 1909, at Sound Beach Post Office, under Act of March 3, 1897. 



Vc 



IX 



OCTOBER, 1916 



Number 5 



How the Plant Scatters Its Seed. 



BY HERBERT W. FAULKNER, WASHINGTON, 

 CONNECTICUT. 



In October the cavalcade of the flowers 

 has nearly passed by and most of their at- 

 tendant insects have flown away or have 



'» 'S' 



' \ 



Winged Seed of Maple. 



Poppy Pepperbox. 



wound themselves in silken comforters 

 to await the winter. We therefore turn 

 to the seeds to learn how they are sown. 



For a plant rooted to one spot the dis- 

 posal of its seeds becomes a serious ques- 

 tion. Seeds with wings like those of the 

 thistledown and the dandelion parachutes 

 are light as air and float where the wind 

 wills. But maple seeds, shown in our 

 first sketch, are much heavier and are 

 planned to twirl in falling, like little 

 boomerangs. They thus descend slowly 

 and fly far. 



So many seed vessels are like pepper 

 boxes, and stand upright on dry stalks,, 

 that we wonder how their seeds get out. 

 Approach a dried poppyhead, such as is 

 shown in our second sketch, give it a 

 gentle touch to set it swaying and see 

 how it shakes out the seeds. Fitful 

 breezes start it rocking and help carry 

 the seeds to a distance. Some flowers 

 which have hung down their blooming" 

 heads turn their ripening seed vessels up- 

 right. This we see in the various lilies 

 and the little Indian pipe. If it were not 

 so, their seeds would fall in a mass at 

 their roots. 



Many seeds have hooks and spurs to 

 fasten them to the hair and wool of pass- 

 ing animals, which thus scatter them over 

 many miles. I am told that certain seeds 

 of this sort were imported into this 

 country in bales of wool for the cloth 



Copyright 1916 by The Agassiz Association, AicAdiA: Sound Beach, Conn. 



