154 Plants and their Ways in South Africa 



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watch spring. By degrees the beautiful curious plant revealed 

 the secret of its success in making the most of a warm, sunny ■ 

 climate. When the winter rains provide sufficient moisture, 

 the full-grown leaves, like those of " April Fool," appropriate 

 it for preparing the year's food supply, which is stored in the 

 bulb for future use in forming and ripening the seed. Christmas 

 is its coronation time, when there is little else to lure us on to 

 the parched veld. All through the summer months, in the 

 centre of its protecting leaves, the fruit can ripen underground, 

 and with the May or June rains it grows longer and longer, 

 till it projects above ground with all its seeds ready to scatter 

 and germinate. Sheep eat the fruit, and so possibly help to 

 scatter the seeds. How does the pollen get from the anthers 

 to the style? Does some night moth, poising for a sip of 

 nectar, carry the golden Christmas gift from flower to flower ? 



It is a widespread family, extending from the Cape to 

 Graff Reinet, and from Mossel Bay up through the Karroo 

 to Little Namaqualand. 



One is almost inclined to wonder just wherein lies the 

 delight in hunting for the odd fruits. Maybe the enjoyment 

 has been inherited, but, at any rate, there would be a sense 

 of something lacking if, in their season, a few were not brought 

 in from the veld. 



