xvn MORPHOLOGY OF SEEDS AND FRUIT 231 



EXPT. 199. Collect a few fruits from the Broom and examine them. 

 Note 



(i) The fruit is superior, and often bears at the tip the remains of 

 the style. 



(ii) The top of the stalk bears the remains of the calyx. 



(Hi) The fruit is monocarpous, and will split open along both sides, 

 or sutures. 



(iv) The fruit is a legume. 



EXPT. 200. Collect a few full-blown Buttercup flowers and examine 

 the fruit. Note 



(i) The fruit consists of a number of carpels. Each carpel is dry, 

 indehiscent, and contains a single seed. 



(ii) Fruits of this description are called achenes. 



Distribution of Seeds. Just as the variety of colour, 

 form, and perfume of flowers have to do with the distribu- 

 tion of the pollen, so the variety of texture, colour, and shape 

 in fruits have to do with the distribution of seeds. Plants are 

 stationary objects, and to give the young plants a chance in the 

 struggle for existence, it is necessary that the seeds should be 

 distributed as widely as possible from the parent plant. When 

 it is considered that only a few seeds out of the large number 

 produced can possibly find suitable conditions for germination, 

 it will be realised that the distribution of seeds is an important 

 branch of the natural history of plants. 



The fact that seeds are distributed from place to place is 

 shown by plants springing up in unlikely localities, such as 

 ruined buildings, on churches, and old walls. Some time ago 

 in examining the top of a church, a number of the seeds of the 

 Sycamore were found. These were germinating, and most 

 likely had been carried for a considerable distance by the wind. 

 Had a suitable soil been present, it seemed possible for some 

 of the Sycamore seeds to have taken root and flourished. So 

 numerous are the plants which sometimes grow in such places 

 that lists have been prepared of the vegetation found on Cologne 

 Cathedral, the Coliseum at Rome, and for many other places. 



How Seeds are Distributed. Seeds may be distributed 

 in many ways : 



(1) The seeds or fruits may be scattered by the wind. 



(2) The seeds may be scattered by the fruit exploding, and 

 so sending individuals for a considerable distance from the 

 parent tree. 



