(jlO !Sir John Luhhoch [Feb. 18, 



in consequence of which, if there is any wind when it falls, it is, 

 though rather heavy, blown to some distance from the parent tree. 

 Several cases are shown in Fig. 12 ; for instance, the Maple a, 

 Sycamore h, Hornbeam d, Elm e, Birch/, Pine^, Fir h, and Ash i, 

 while in the Lime, c, the whole bunch of fruits drops together, and 

 the " bract," as it is called, or leaf of the flower-stalk, serves the same 

 purpose. 



In a great many other plants the same result is obtained by 

 flattened and expanded edges. A beautiful example is afforded by the 

 genus Thysanocarpus, a North American crucifer ; T. laciniatus has a 

 distinctly winged pod ; in T. curvipes the wings are considerably 

 larger ; lastly, in T. elegans and T. radians the pods are still further 

 developed in the same direction, T. radians having the wing very 

 broad, while in T. elegans it has become thinner and thinner in places, 

 until at length it shows a series of perforations. Among our common 

 wild plants we find winged fruits in the Dock (Bumex) and in the 

 Common Parsnip {Pastinaca). But though in these cases the object 

 to be obtained — namely, the dispersion of the seed — is effected in a 

 similar manner, there are differences which might not at first be sus- 

 pected. Thus in some cases, as, for instance, the Pine, it is the seed 

 itself which is winged ; in Tlilaspi arvense it is the pod ; in Entada, 

 a leguminous plant, the pod breaks up into segments, each of which 

 is winged ; in Nissolia the extremity of the pod is expanded into a 

 flattened wing ; lastly, in the Lime, as already mentioned, the fruits 

 drop off in a bunch, and the leaf at the base of the common flower- 

 stalk, or " bract," as it is called, forms the wing. 



In Gouania retinaria of Eodriguez the same object is effected in 

 another manner ; the cellular tissue of the fruit crumbles and breaks 

 away, leaving only the vascular tissue, which thus forms a net 

 enclosing the seed. 



Another mode, which is frequently adopted, is the development of 

 long hairs. Sometimes, as in Clematis, Anemone, Dryas, these hairs 

 take the form of a long feathery awn. In others the hairs form a tuft 

 or crown, which botanists term a pappus. Of this the Dandelion and 

 John Go-to-bed-at-noon, so called from its habit of shutting its flowers 

 about mid-day, are well-known examples. Tufts of hairs, which are 

 themselves sometimes feathered, are developed in a great many Com- 

 posites, though some, as, for instance, the Daisy and Lapsana, are 

 without them ; in some very interesting species, of which the common 

 Thrincia liirta of our lawns and meadows is one, there are two kinds 

 of fruits, as shown in Fig. 13 h, one with a pappus and one without. 

 The former are adai)ted to seek " fresh woods and pastures new," 

 while the latter stay and perpetuate the race at home. 



A more or less similar pappus is found among various English 

 plants — in the Epilobium (Fig. 13 a), Thrincia (Fig. 13 Z>), Tamarix 

 (Fig. 13 c), Willow (Fig. 13 d), Cotton Grass (Fig. 13 e), and 

 Bulrush (Fig. 13 /) ; while in exotic species there are many other 

 cases — as, for instance, the beautiful Oleander. As in the wings, so 



