FIELD AND WAYSIDE IN AUTUMN 329 



of these await the gales of late autumn and winter, and being now 

 no longer sheltered from the wind, are carried to the spots where 

 they are to produce new plants in the follo^\'ing spring ; while 

 sheep and other animals, wandering farther afield in search of 

 food, carry away numerous hooked fruits in their woolly or hairy 

 coats. 



The feathered fruits of the Wild Clematis adorn the hedgerows 

 throughout the greater part of the cold season, and form a striking 

 feature of the wayside until they have been dispersed by the winter 

 storms ; and the hips of the Wild Rose, as well as the berries and 

 drupes of various slirubs, now rendered more conspicuous by their 

 bright colouring and the absence of foHage, are devoured by birds 

 which afterwards deposit the indigestible and, therefore, uninjured 

 seeds, with their excrement, at some distant spot. 



Should the reader be interested in the various ways in which 

 the dehiscent fruits discharge their seeds, he will do well to collect 

 a number of species, as yet unopened, and expose them to the 

 sun in a dry place. He will then be able to note not only the 

 directions and extent of the dehiscence, but also to observe the 

 forcible ejection of seeds by those which spHt elastically, or which, 

 by other mechanical contrivances, have the power of throwing 

 their seeds a considerable distance. 



We may find still another subject for study in the beautiful 

 autumn tints assumed by the leaves of many plants. Such tints 

 are, of course, most conspicuous in the foliage of our forest trees 

 and slirubs ; and, when speaking of these, we shall have a word or 

 two to say wdth regard to the nature of the internal changes that 

 give rise to the beautiful display of colours ; but not a few of the 

 hedgerow herbs and shrubs exhibit tints equally rich and varied. 

 Note, for instance, the pretty Herb Robert, still in flower in shel- 

 tered places, its blossoms standing out beyond a background of 

 richly-coloured leaves. 



The vigorous summer growth of flowery banks and hedgerows 

 is often closely trimmed with the sickle for the greater convenience 

 of pedestrians and vehicular traffic, all the flowers and overhanging 

 t^vigs being closely cut, and the wayside thus destroyed from the 

 Nature-student's point of view ; but the ground so denuded has 

 recovered itself by the autumn, and a second crop of flowers, 

 arising from the old stocks, often later than their normal season, 

 is frequently the result. 



A considerable number of summer flowers continue to bloom 



