PASQUE-FLOWER. 189 



from the bordering trees. Those of the 

 water-fennel which grew there, resembled 

 small canoes, hollowed in the middle, and 

 raised at both ends into a prow ; those of 

 the bull-rush were constructed like a lob- 

 ster's egg ; and what I have frequently ob- 

 served on the ripples of that small stream, 

 when autumn seeds fell from the bordering 

 flowers, or were carried thither by the wind, 

 occurs on a large scale throughout the ve- 

 getable kingdom. 



In countries which have never been brought 

 into cultivation, where native forests extend 

 to the water side, and the cliffs are covered 

 with overshadowing foliage of native growth, 

 the seeds of such plants and trees as grow 

 beside them are generally adapted for float- 

 ing on the water. The kernels of the ma- 

 ritime pine are enclosed in capsules re- 

 sembling small bony shoes, notched on the 

 under side, and covered on the upper with a 



