DRY FRUITS. 233 



But I think that the fruit prickles may serve 

 other purposes than "getting a lift" from some 

 passing quadruped. Why should they not act like 

 the hairs on a caterpillar, and make the object an 

 unpleasant morsel for a bird to swallow? 



A stone-fruit like the cherry may take no harm 

 by being swallowed ; but in cases where the seeds 

 have no hard covering they would be digested, and 

 thus the plant would lose, in fact it would be slowly 

 exterminated. 



In the Riviera gardens a common shrub is the 

 Sparmannia. The fruit resembles a sea-urchin, or 

 a rolled up porcupine. It would go hard with a bird 

 which got one of these fixed in its throat. The 

 Sparmannia forms its fruit only in favourable seasons, 

 and in a good situation. The brightly coloured 

 stamens are sensitive, like those of the Barberry 

 (Berberis) and some other plants. When the fila- 

 ments are touched near the base they move inwards. 

 Sparmannia is allied to the Linden (Tilia). Of 

 course this little vegetable hedgehog may serve a 

 double purpose : it may travel on the back of a sheep 

 or a goat, and so disseminate the plant ; and the 

 prickles may also be defensive. 



Under the Olive trees everywhere you may find 

 a little Medic (M. denticulata, Fig. 85), with spiral 

 prickly pod. The so-called " Calvary Clover " (M. 

 intertexta] has a pod of the same sort but larger. Now 

 a bird, however hungry, would hardly try to eat this 

 little legume, even if it were not armed. The single 

 minute seed, for I think that there is but one, would 

 not be worth while. It follows that the spines are 

 not defensive. Locomotive they probably are ; but I 

 think that they may also have a quite different 



