62 WONDERS OF PLANT LIFE 



tenacity. From this it is easy to get an idea of 

 the distance to which many of these may be 

 carried whilst clinging to the coat of some wild 

 creature. 



A very large number of plants are able to sur- 

 round their seeds with a pulp which is attractively 

 flavoured. It is certainly a curious fact that 

 just at the time when the seeds are ready for 

 dispersal the fruit or berry becomes a bright 

 colour, as if the plant were anxious to attract 

 attention to its progeny. In many of these cases 

 the seed is protected by a hard covering that is 

 quite unaffected by the digestive juices of any 

 animal which should happen to swallow it when 

 feasting on the fruit. It is not always that the 

 seeds of fruits and berries are swallowed by the 

 bird or animal acting as the distributing agent. 

 It has been noticed elsewhere that the seeds of 

 the Mistletoe are frequently carried about on the 

 beaks of thrushes. Many of the seeds, such as 

 chestnuts, Beech-masts, acorns, which are edible 

 in themselves, are destroyed in large numbers 

 by the animal life of the country. On the other 

 hand, owing to their value as food, a large pro- 

 portion of them will be carried to considerable 

 distances by squirrels and other creatures, and 

 perhaps dropped, or stored away and forgotten 



