Geraniums 131 
and this is due to the seeds being dropped at a slight 
distance only from the paent plant, and sown in 
the exact spot where they fall. In some respects the 
formation of the carpels and styles round a central 
axis is like that of Geranium, but the style retains 
its connection with the seed, and is lined on its 
under-side with silky hairs. The growth of the axis 
releases the seed from the carpel, and the style curls 
up in corkscrew fashion, which causes every hair on 
the back to stand out 
stiffly at right angles. So 
the pointed hairy seed is 
“hung at the yardarm,” 
so to speak, the tip of the Stork's-bill seed 
style resting on the tip of 
the axis, until a puff of wind releases it and carries all 
a foot or two away. Then a remarkable thing 
happens: naturally the seed-laden end of the hairy 
corkscrew reaches the ground first, and the pointed 
end sticks in the earth, whilst the hairs of the 
corkscrew stand out between blades of grass or stems 
of other lowly plants. Rain or dew becomes absorbed 
by the corkscrew, which consequently lengthens. 
But the lengthening drives the pointed seed more 
deeply into the ground, because the hairs of the style 
will not allow the other end to be extended. When, 
on the other hand, a drier atmosphere causes the 
corkscrew to contract again, the short hairs on the 
seed act as barbs and prevent its withdrawal from 
the ground, so the hairs on the style have to yield, 
which they will do in this direction. And so by 
alternate contractions and extensions of the style 
the Stork’s-bill’s seed is sown in the earth. 
