76 THE HUMAN SIDE OF PLANTS 



which it dances and tumbles like a frolicking lamb. 

 When it grows weary of this fast life it decides 

 to settle down in some pleasant place near a pool 

 of water, where it again takes up the ordinary rou- 

 tine of living. 



Among human athletes we occasionally find 

 skilled hoppers; plants, too, indulge in this form 

 of athletics. The "Leap-in-the-field" or "Wind- 

 witch," as it is sometimes called if medals and 

 badges were bestowed upon plant athletes, would 

 hold in all probability a tremendous collection in 

 recognition of its place as "world's champion" in 

 the high- jump and in the hop-skip-and-jump. This 

 curious leaper sends up numerous dry, slender 

 shoots, like so many tiny arms, which reach around 

 it, clasping hands, as playful babies would do, until 

 the mother plant is encircled by hundreds of such 

 cord-like binders. Sometimes these arms reach 

 up three or four feet, and over and over they con- 

 tinue to bind until autumn comes on. Then the 

 plant's vacation time has come. It withdraws its 

 roots from the earth, shrinks together its folded 

 arms until it is almost the shape of a ball, loses 

 all its moisture and becomes dry as dust and light 

 as a feather. Then comes the wind, and with the 

 first puff, away it hops and tumbles, seeking here 

 and there to join hands with its neighbours, who 



