66 FROM A MIDDLESEX GARDEN 



becomes diffuse, and is finally succeeded by bunches of pendant 

 seeds, not inappropriately called "keys." These "keys" or 

 winged seeds were called by the ancients " lingua avis " a 

 bird's tongue also another fancied resemblance in shape. 



While considering briefly the ash, one's thoughts arc 

 naturally directed towards the beauty of winged seeds, of 

 which England has many varieties. " The dandelion seed, 

 which the wind has wafted through the open window, speaks 

 to us of ways and means of securing the propagation of the 

 flowers by the cunning utilisation of the winds just as in 

 other plants the waters may bear the seeds to distant parts, or 

 as others, again, employ animals to carry their progeny and to 

 spread their kind broadcast. When you stroll through the 

 garden, or by the wayside, note how the herb-robert, by an in- 

 genious catapult arrangement, plays at * pitch and toss ' with its 

 seeds, and scatters them abroad and around. Watch the ripe 

 poppy-head, full of seeds, and note the little doors which lie 

 just under the lid. You may understand then, how, when 

 the flower stalk sways to and fro with the wind, the seeds are 

 ejected and thrown out from their parent capsule. 



" Of winged seeds, too, there are many tolerably heavy 

 kinds, which are dispersed by means of the wind acting on 

 their parachutes. The sycamore seed has a double wing, as 

 also has that of the maple ; and the ash and fir are also to be 

 reckoned with in this sense of wind-dispersed plants. When 

 you stop to examine the burdock seed, you will then discover 

 how the animal is pressed into the service of the plant, for 

 you may note the hooked hairs with which the seeds are pro- 

 vided, and wherewith they cleave and cling to the hair and 

 fur of sheep and other unsuspecting ministers of plant-life. 

 Nor is the service of the animal always unconscious." 



