96 WONDERS OF PLANT LIFE 



a dull brown manner that it does not look in the 

 least like a growing vegetable. 



It is often in the very beginning of a plant's 

 existence that the most need arises for protective 

 means. It is therefore not surprising to find 

 quite a number of seeds which may be regarded 

 as examples of simulation. Doubtless many of 

 these resemblances are purely accidental, but in 

 others one cannot but think that there is a real 

 purpose in the resemblance. Many seed vessels 

 bear an astonishing likeness to beetles and other 

 insects. In a leguminous plant which is called 

 Scorpiurus the pods so closely resemble a centi- 

 pede that even an experienced eye is deceived at 

 a distance. In the same way the seeds of the 

 Castor Oil Plant (Ricinus) are very much like a 

 small beetle, and the resemblance is still more 

 strong in the seeds of some of the species of 

 Jatropha. More remarkable than any of the 

 instances mentioned above are the large seeds of 

 the genus Chelonospermum, plants indigenous to 

 certain of the Pacific islands. These most won- 

 derfully resemble the giant coleoptera, which are 

 such a feature of insect life in this part of the 

 world. 



One can well understand that granivorous 

 birds, which would tear these seeds in pieces and 



