SEED SOWING 



205 



There evidently must be other more efficient 

 means for scattering seeds than shaking them out 

 of the seed-pods upon the ground near by. Let us 

 examine some of these mysterious methods. 



PEPPER-BOX SEEDS 



In the sketch is shown the dried seed-pod of a 

 poppy, like a pepper-box on a tall, stiff stalk. Now, 

 to get the pepper for our meat we have to invert 

 and shake the box. How do the loose seeds get 

 out of theirs? Pull the pod a little and then let it 

 spring away, and you will hear the seeds scatter 

 a long way in every direction. But the wind is 

 /..',;.;'. able to sway these pods back and 



forth, and, catching the seeds, 

 bear them far and scatter them 

 well. 



We can find a great many of 

 :'':. these "pepper-box" plants in ac- 

 tion, such as the monkshood, col- 

 ..'. umbine, larkspur, Jimson-weed. 

 The lilies and the Indian-pipe 

 belong to this class, but they have 

 this peculiarity, that, even though 

 their corollas may turn modestly 

 downward while in bloom, yet 



