THE DISl'ERSION OK SEEDS AND SPORES. m 



dispersion. A hard shell would seem to have been 

 acquired as a protection to the seed, and, on the 

 other hand, the powerful mandibles of the parrot 

 tribe would fall to be accounted for as a provision 

 enabling the birds to break open hard-shelled fruits. 

 It can hardly be supposed that the service they 

 perform by occasionally dropping a seed is suflBcient 

 compensation for the numbers they consume. We 

 are, therefore, inclined to account for the dispersion 

 of nuts in some other way. Possibly in the case 

 of the hazel and acorn the contraction of the cupule 

 may project the nut to some distance. In shape the 

 betel-nut {Areca oleracea) resembles a rifle-bullet. 

 This form is advantageous, whether a seed is to be 

 ejected as a projectile from the contracting pericarp 

 or to be passed through the alimentary canal of a 

 bird or beast. 



A disagreeable taste will prevent a seed being 

 eaten by animals or swallowed along with the sweet 

 pulp of the fruit. This is apparently the meaning 

 of the bitter taste in the orange seeds, in one 

 variety of almond, and in the fresh spermodei-m of 

 Juglans. Cocculus indicus, sometimes used to give 

 bitterness to malt liquors, is the fruit of a plant 

 belonging to the Menispermaceae. The seeds of 

 Digitalis and Verbascuni are bitter, and those of the 

 upas-tree (Artocarpacece) intensely so. On account 

 of their hairy exterior the achenes of the rose are 

 not easily swallowed. In other cases the seed has a 

 hot pungent taste, as in the mustard (Sinapis alba) 

 and other Cruciferae. Pepper is obtained from the 

 fruits of various orders : black pepper from Piper 

 nigi-um (Piperaceae), Jamaica pepper from Eugenia 

 Pimenta, a plant of the myrtle family; Cayenne 

 pepper, Chili pepper, bird-pepper, and cardamoms from 

 various Solanaceae. From Nigella sativa (Ranuncu- 

 laceae), Tasmannia aromatica (Magnoliaceae), Xylopia 

 aromatica (Anonacese), water-peppers (Elatinace»), 

 some of the Verbenacese, Polygomim Hydropiper 

 (Polygonaceae), and some plants of the ginger order 



