222 GLIMPSES ixro PLAXT-LIFE 



becomes the fruit fpericarp), is intended to protect 

 the seeds, and it is interesting to note some of the 

 various ways in which this protection is afforded. 

 Take first the soft and sweet fruits so plentiful in 

 the autumn ; this edible sweet flesh is not deve- 

 loped until the seeds are quite ripe. All through 

 the period of growth and ripening the pericarp 

 is hard or stringy or it may be also sour or acid. 

 This is especially true of hedgerow fruit, such as 

 crab-apples, sloes, and wild pears, texture and juice 

 alike affording complete protection. 



Again, such fruit as the walnut and chestnut 

 are protected by their rough covering and hard 

 shells, and many others have their outer coats 

 covered with prickles and spines for the same 

 reason. The most extreme case is perhaps that 

 of MucHua pruriciis, a leguminous climber found 

 in the tropics ; this has downy pods not unlike 

 those of a sweet-pea, and these pods are covered 

 with brownish hairs which, if incautiously touched, 

 enter the pores of the skin and cause a most 

 intolerable irritation ; a truly formidable protec- 

 tion this to the seed. 



Let me now point out how the seed is protected 



