36 OBSERVATIONS ON SEED DISTRIBUTION. 
the stem, the weight of the flowers and the seed capsules after- 
wards produced would cause it to collapse to the base in a 
short time were it not for the way it is strengthened by its tri- 
angular form. It looks like a miniature triangular girder 
set on end, and is _ sufficiently strong to maintain the 
flowers themselves. As the seeds begin to form and the 
capsules increase in weight, the stems gradually fall forward in 
the direction in which the flowers are arranged, and eventually 
lie in a horizontal position with the capsules resting on the 
ground, where they gradually open and the seeds fall to the 
soil. In a group of plants it will be found that the flowers are 
all turned towards the light, so that, if in an open position, the 
stems, in falling, fall outward, with the result that the seeds 
are deposited at distances from a foot or less from the parent. 
The triangular form of the stem keeps it from doubling up at 
any point save in the soft base. What is noticeable about this 
plant which makes this distributing method more valuable is that 
it also increases rapidly by offsets from the bulb, and has thus a 
greater need for dispersing its seeds to prevent undue competition 
among its offspring. A somewhat similar arrangement exists 
among such Alliums as bear bulblets on the top of the stem, with 
the exception that the necessary rigidity of the stem is often 
secured by other means, such as a cylindrical formation of the 
stalk, which is either smooth and hollow, smooth and stiff and 
with interior fibres or corrugated, the latter arrangement fre- 
quently existing among plants with hollow stems also. It will 
be observed that in many cases these stems, from their 
greater substance and rigidity, last longer than the leaves, and 
do not fall down until the seeds are ripe or nearly so. Besides 
the Alliums, such bulbous plants as Narcissi, Snowflakes, and 
even the Snowdrops are spread by this means, although, of 
course, the distance varies according to the length of the stems. 
In this short note I have endeavoured to keep it free from techni- 
cal terms, and to state the facts so as to induce others to take 
their own observations when opportunity offers. 
eo) 
