56 WITH THE FLOWERS AND TREES 



there rises from each flower the long beak of the 

 seed pod, whose resemblance to a pin has suggested 

 the common name. With country children the al- 

 filerilla is an especial favorite, as the ripe sharp- 

 pointed seeds possess long wiry, twisting tails 

 have a fashion of boring their way into one 's cloth- 

 ing, while the horizontal tips of the tails revolve 

 slowly like the hands of a clock a trick very capti- 

 vating to the childlike mind of all ages. When the 

 seeds fall to earth, these curious appendages act as 

 seed planters the alternate dampening of the dew 

 and the drying of the sun causing a rotary move- 

 ment which drives the seeds into the ground. The 

 red ants have a fondness for these seeds and carry 

 them into their subterranean apartments, having 

 first nibbled off the tails, which are often found lying 

 in heaps outside the hills. 



Mingled everywhere with the alfilerilla and wild 

 grasses, is a clover-like plant with small blossoms 

 that look like specks of gold. Examined closely, 

 they are seen to be like pea blossoms. This is still 

 another Old World plant of forage value, native to 

 Mediterranean countries, though the date of its in- 

 troduction is unknown. It is bur-clover, or Medi- 

 cago denticulata. Possibly it owes its start in Cali- 

 fornia to seeds that made the trip from Spain in 

 Mission days in the wool of imported sheep. Many 



