BALLOONING SEEDS 



N a previous chapter I discussed the ways of the 

 " vagabond '' seeds, the burrs and " pitchforks," and 

 the " beggars' ticks," with their singular devices for 

 stealing their way around the world. In decided 

 contrast to these ingenious waifs so dependent upon 

 circumstance are their airy winged companions, and 

 what an endless variety of these buoyant feathered 

 seeds are now flying to the ends of the earth on every 

 breeze ! 



Beginning with the plumy willow and poplar cotton 

 of May that covered the surface of the streams and 

 washed in downy drift -rows on the muddy banks, each 

 successive month has sent its swarms of winged seeds 



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upon their wanderings, and though most of these early 

 broods have found their rest, and are even now, as in 

 our willow, firmly rooted and established for the future, 

 we may still see an occasional restless vernal specimen 

 on its travels. 



The dandelion balls followed the willows in the last 

 of May and June, and launched their myriads of feath- 

 ered parachutes, one of the prettiest of all their tribe. 



We all know this common type of the winged seed, 

 but how little do we know of the companions that 



