266 GENERAL BOTANY 



chances of successful germination of its seeds, that a 

 plant colours its unripe pods green, and its ripe seeds 

 brown or black. 



8. But fleshy fruits are freely exposed, and we 

 must suppose that it is not only not harmful, but 

 actually an advantage to such a plant that its fruits 

 should be eaten. The reason for this lies in the second 

 point about plant propagation the advantage to the 

 species that its seeds should be scattered widely, 

 which is the reason as we have seen for winged and 

 spiny fruits and seeds. When an animal eats a fleshy 

 fruit, it is for the pulp that it does so, the seeds and 

 stones are usually rejected or passed out in its dung. 

 And here we see the reason for the hard stony 

 endocarp that surrounds the seed of a drupe it protects 

 the seed from injury. In all drupes the seed is pro- 

 tected in that way. In berries the seed has no outside 

 protection, but it makes up for this by its superior 

 numbers (for if only one of the many seeds in a 

 Grape or any other berry were to survive and germi- 

 nate it would be more than enough to preserve the 

 species in undiminished numbers). Moreover in many 

 cases the seeds are hard, as with the Date and Coffee, 

 or have very hard testas, those for instance of the 

 Guava are as hard as the stones of most drupes. This 

 is not always the case, but it is so very often, and 

 the hardness prevents the seed being crushed by the 

 animal's teeth, or damaged by the digestive juices of 

 its stomach and intestines. It has, indeed, been found 

 that some seeds germinate better when their seed- 

 coats have been partially digested and softened by 

 the digestive juices of an animal. When the seed is 



