208 MYSTERIES OF THE FLOWERS 



placement, which become veritable airships. We 

 can scarcely imagine a thing lighter than thistle- 

 down, or its like among the seeds. Our sketch at 

 the beginning of this chapter shows seed vessels 

 and seeds of the clematis, milkweed, fire-weed, and 

 dandelion. 



Boys who fly kites know full well that the wind, 

 blowing over uneven ground, does not travel in a 

 horizontal plane but rises at every slope, sweeps 

 up over every hedge or obstruction, and thus can 

 easily pick up and whirl away these little, feathery 

 seeds and scatter them over a whole county. Most 

 of these very light seeds, it will be noted, grow upon 

 herbs near the ground. 



TUMBLE WEEDS 



