66 THE NATURE-STUDY OF PLANTS 
The membrane which forms the margin of such 
flat seeds and fruits is known as the Wing, and in 
some of our trees it is developed to a much greater 
extent than even in the Elm. Good examples that 
deserve consideration are the fruits of the Sycamore, 
the Maple, and the Ash, and the seeds of the Pine. 
We may with advantage drop any one of them out of 
a top-story window on a windy or even on a calm 
day in order to see what happens. 
I am sure that their performance will afford both 
pleasure and surprise. The seed of the Pine, for 
instance, will spin round and round as it falls to earth ; 
this, of course, extends the time taken over the 
journey, and on the wings of the wind such fruits and 
seeds will travel a considerable distance before coming 
to rest. 
Or instead of being large and winged the seeds may 
be so small as to fly like dust before even a gentle 
breeze; our native orchids and some other plants 
of different families are possessed of gauzy seeds of 
great beauty, which, however, are so small as to 
require the use of the microscope for their adequate 
appreciation. 
There is another method by which plants take 
advantage of the wind, and it can be seen equally 
well in the Scarlet Poppy, the Columbine and the 
Ragged Robin. Their fruits are borne upon long 
flexible stems, and they open respectively by small 
pores, slits and valves to allow the seeds to escape. 
This, however, does not at first sight seem to be a 
very happy device, since in all three cases the opening 
is at the top, and seeds do not rise or fall upwards. 
But as the fruits sway too and fro in the wind and 
catch in the surrounding herbage the seeds get such a 
