242 



STUDY OF FRUITS AND SEEDS. 



Animal Agency Passive. 



Some fruits are prickly, so that they adhere to the bodies 

 of passing animals. Pupils will mostly be familiar with 

 the G-oosegrass or Cleavers (Galium aparine), in which not 

 only the fruit but the whole plant is covered with small 

 hooks. In the Wood Avens (Geum urbanum) the style is 

 hard and hooked, and in the Corn Crowfoot (Ranunculus 

 arvensis} the individual carpels are rough and prickly. 

 These are interesting cases which should be examined, and 

 there are many others of this kind. Sometimes fruits or 

 seeds of aquatic plants adhere to the feet of water birds in 

 mud, and are distributed in this way. 



Animal Agency Active. 



Another familiar example is that of the Mistletoe berries, 

 which are very sticky. They are eaten by birds which in 

 wiping their bills on the branches of trees leave the seeds 

 adhering, and there they subsequently germinate. 



SEED 



Fig. 116. Section of the 

 Cherry ; 1,2, 3, layers 

 of the seed vessel 

 (pericarp). 



BRACTS 



* <JAND 



9 FLOWERS 



Fig. 117. Fruit of Fig cut lengthwise. Here 

 the succulent portion consists of the ex- 

 panded head of the flower stalk which 

 encloses the entire inflorescence. The 

 "seeds" in this case are really the fruits. 



The seeds of many succulent fruits are scattered by 

 birds and other animals which feed upon the fruit. Hence 

 the attractions of juiciness, sweetness, and such like have a 



