4-6 PLANT LIFE. 



wind. In some Grasses, such as Melica and Calama- 

 grostis, a bunch of fine hairs is formed upon the bracts. 

 In the Bulrusli [Typha) the. tall upright flowering stalks 

 are densely covered at the top by very minute woolly 

 flowers ; on close examination it will be found that 

 each minute fruit has a short stalk, and that the woolly 

 hairs spring from this little stalk or " pedicel." 



It is very remarkable that there are also cases in 

 which seeds ^ not fruits, develop hairs for the purpose of 

 aiding in their transport by the wind ; and some- 

 times these have an extraordinary resemblance to the 

 hairs found on fruits. The Willow Herb or Epilobiuvi, 

 for instance, has numerous small seeds ; each of them 

 has a tiny crown of hairs ; and, at first sight, one would 

 at once consider the seed to be a Composite fruit with 

 a haii'-pappus. The seeds of the Willow also have an 

 irregular tangle of hairs around them. When the cap- 

 sules open, these seeds drag each other out of the capsule 

 by their interlaced hairs ; and the wind then carries 

 them away gradually. A very peculiar seed is that of 

 the Bog Asphodel {Nai'tJieciinn ossifragtivi) ; two long 

 and very thin hairs extend from each end, and these 

 are probably intended to catch the wind. These 

 arrangements of the plant for the dispersal of the seed 

 have been taken advantage of by man. The best known 

 case of this is, of course, " Cotton," in which the hairs 

 that cover the seed, once used to catch the wind, have 

 been employed by mankind for textiles, certainly since 

 800 B.C. (see bibliography), and probably since long 

 before that time. Dr. Watts mentions an ancient fable 

 in British India to the effect that the first man was 

 pulled out of the depths of the earth by a cotton rope 

 in the hands of the demigod Saccarbo. The length, 

 tenacity, and uniformity of cotton hairs probably ensure 



