PERSONALITY OF PLANTS 
Plant seeds, which like to travel on animals, 
all provide themselves with grappling irons in 
the shape of sharp hooks, spurs and spines with 
which they cling to their carriers. Everybody 
in the northern United States knows of the avid- 
ity with which the Cockle-bur clings to any 
passing object. The Touch-me-not (Impa- 
tiens), the Wistaria, and a host of others, actu- 
ally shoot their seeds from their pods as from 
a gun. 
Every vagrant breeze, every purling brook, 
every deep river, every ocean current, is a high- 
way of travel in plantdom. ‘The birds, the 
beasts, the insects, and not least, man himself, 
are involuntary vehicles on which our vege- 
table friends tour the world. The spores of 
Mosses, Lichens, Fungi and other cryptogams 
are so light that they find no difficulty in mount- 
ing into the air and traveling across the Atlan- 
tic or Pacific Oceans at will. 
The complete record of plant conquests 
would fill many volumes. Their operations 
have extended into every land and have had 
influence on the world’s history. It very often 
happens that plant invaders become so quickly 
[48] 
