THE PLANT AS A PARENT 59 



miles from the nearest land. The question was 

 not definitely settled until the discovery of the 

 Seychelle Islands, when the palm bearing the nuts 

 was identified, thereby clearing up a great mystery. 

 It is by ocean currents that the common Coco-nut 

 has been distributed so widely among the Pacific 

 islands. Almost the first tokens of vegetation on 

 the coral reefs are the Palm trees, which appear 

 on the smallest patch above high-water mark. 

 The preparation of the Coco-nut for its long sea- 

 voyage is a matter to which the plant has given 

 special attention. In the first place the embryo 

 and supply of food material are encased in a 

 singularly dense shell, but outside of this is an 

 enormous fibrous mass completely enveloping the 

 nut itself. The distance over which these seeds 

 will float is extraordinary, and were it not for 

 the limited climatic range the species could not 

 fail to have been established all over the world 

 long ago. It is a well-known fact that seeds of 

 various plants indigenous to the West Indies are 

 not infrequently found on the north-west coast 

 of Norway, where they have been swept round 

 by a branch of the Gulf Stream. 



In Britain the movements of water-borne seeds 

 are to be observed in the case of many plants 

 which grow on the banks of rivers or streams. The 



