FLOWERS AND GRASSES. 7 I 



uninviting flowers, and even children seldom care 

 to add them to their nosegays; but to the lovers 

 of nature's marvels they will furnish much material 

 for study and reflection. 



When the flowers have faded and the seeds are 

 ripened, these plants still furnish material for obser- 

 vation. Each seed, or fruit, is terminated at the 

 apex with slender filaments supported on a long 

 pedicel; sometimes these are interlaced in an ex- 

 panded disc, so that the appearance is not unlike a 

 miniature parasol. These winged fruits are borne 

 upon the wind to a very great distance; and the evident 

 use of such appendages is to aid in the dispersion of 

 the seeds. Let the dandelion, or any species of " rag- 

 wort," or thistle, be observed when the heads are 

 ripe, and this mode of dispersion will at once be 

 manifested. Perhaps one of the most perfect of 

 " parachutes," in our common composite plants, will 

 be found on the " goatsbeard," which springs up 

 freely on railway banks. The manner in which the 

 seeds of plants aid in their own dispersion by the 

 means of wings, hooks, spines, &c., or by some 

 special contrivance of the capsule, is deserving of 

 observation. 



" Blue-bells " is a name often inaccurately given 

 to the wild hyacinth, but the true "blue-bells" are 

 undoubtedly species of Campanula. The erect large 

 bell-flower, not uncommon in woods in the south of 

 England, is sometimes called Canterbury-bells, 1 from 

 its supposed resemblance to the bells carried by the 



1 Campanula trachelium. 



