188L] on Fruits and Seeds. 019 



Myzodendron (Fig. 16), a Fuegian species, described by Sir Joseph 

 Hooker, and parasitic on the Beech. Here the seed is not sticky, but 

 is providcxl with four flattened flexible appendages. These catcli the 

 wind, and thus carry the seed from one tree to another. As soon, 

 however, as tliey touch any little bough the arms twist round it and 

 there anchor the seed. 



Dr. Watt has discovered a still more curious fact in an Indian 

 species of Loranthus, which he considers to be L. glohosns. The fruit, 

 as is so common in this order, consists of a mass of viscid pulp. 

 Under ordinaiy circumstances the seeds would be most likely in the 

 first instance to di-op upon a leaf; but if they remained tlierc, when 

 the leaves fell from the trees the seeds would droji also. They have, 

 however, a curious power of movement, by means of which they quit 

 the leaves and fasten themselves to the stem. The i*adicle, when it has 

 elongated itself to about an inch, develops at its extremity a flattened 

 disc. It then curves about until the disc touches any object that is 

 near at hand. To this it then attaches itself, and tears the berry away 

 from its previous position. The radicle then again curves, the berry 

 is again carried to another spot, where it a<:lheres again. This 

 curious process is repeated until the seed finds itself on a spot 

 suitable for its growth. 



In many epiphytes the seeds are extremely numerous and minute. 

 Their great numbers increase the chance that the wind may waft 

 some of them to the trees on which they grow ; and as they are then 

 fully supplied with nourishment they do not require to carry any 

 store with them. Moreover, their minute size is an advantage, as they 

 arc carried into any little chink or cranny in the bark ; while a 

 larger or heavier seed, even if borne against a suitable tree, would be 

 more likely to drop off. In the genus Neinnannia, the small seed 

 is produced at each end into a long filament wliich must materially 

 increase its chance of adhering to a suitable tree. 



Even among terrestrial species there are not a few cases in which 

 l)lants are not contented simply to leave their seeds on the surface of 

 the soil, but actually sow them in the ground. Thus in TrifoUum 

 siihteiraneum, one of our rarer English Clovers, only a few of the 

 florets become perfect flowers, the othci-s form a rigid pointed head 

 which at first is turned upwards, and as their ends are close to- 

 gether, constitute a sort of spike. At first, I say, the flower-heads 

 point upwards like those of other Clovers, but as soon as the 

 florets are fertilised, the flower-stalks bend over and grow down- 

 wards, forcing the flower-head into tlie ground, an oiX)ration much 

 facilitated by the peculiar construction and arrangement of the 

 imperfect florets. The florets are, as Darwin has shown, no mere 

 passive instruments. So soon as the flower-head is in the ground 

 they begin, commencing from the outside, to bend themselves towards 

 the peduncle, the result of whicli of course is to drag the flower-head 

 farther and farther into the ground. In most Clovers each floret 



