POLLENIZATION 79 



Chance, yes, in a sense, but enough chance to 

 keep the milkweed always with us. While we are 

 talking of milkweeds, I will tell you another thing 

 about them that the eye of the camera noticed first. 

 When the pod opens to allow the seeds to escape 

 they are quite damp. The seeds come out and are 

 held captive to the tip of the pod until the sun and 

 wind has dried them out. The seeds of this interest- 

 ing milkweed are small, flat and brownish in color 

 and each one has a tuft of long silver hairs attached 

 to it. They are so light when dry, the hairs giving 

 them so much surface, they float airily out into space. 

 Being held captive by the tip of the pod allows them 

 to dry out before being released by the wind when 

 they are carried to great distances, giving them a 

 better chance to choose a new homesite. 



It is quite possible that some one plant in the line 

 of heredity developed that trait of holding the seeds 

 captive until they dried out. That plant and its chil- 

 dren survived and the others passed on out into an- 

 other form of existence. 



Among the water plants other interesting methods 

 of pollen dispersal and reception are wonderfully 

 interesting to watch. The Vaucheria, an aquatic 

 plant having a long thin leaf, is especially dramatic. 

 The plant lives in the water a foot or two deep, the 

 leaves floating on the surface. The small white fe- 



