ADAPTATIONS OF SEEDS AND FRUITS. 219 



Winds which would break them off are effectually resisted by 

 their strong yet flexible footstalks ; and possible injury by bruis- 

 ing is averted by tough, elastic walls, often cushioned by prickles 

 or other appendages. 



Sudden changes of temperature, before they can penetrate to 

 the unripe seeds, are rendered harmless by the blanketing effect 

 of pulp or other material. 



For protection from the animal world, immature fruits have 

 developed a number of interesting devices. Almost universally 

 " green" fruits so harmonize with surrounding color as readily to 

 escape detection. In fact, the hazelnut is enveloped in a leafy 

 coat which renders it very inconspicuous. The nutritious albu- 

 men of the seed is often fortified by such impenetrable shells as 

 those of the cocoanut and others. Perhaps there is a formidable 

 armament of prickles, as in the chestnut ; or of stinging hairs, as 

 is the case with some pods. Characteristic of immature fruits are 

 disagreeable taste and consistence. Compare an unripe peach, 

 sour and stringy, with the same fruit in its luscious maturity. 



But all these contrivances fail to repel certain enemies of 

 growing fruits. The apple's inconspicuousness, toughness, and 

 sourness are of little avail against the young progeny of the genus 

 Homo. 



In many remarkable instances plants by their movements are 

 able to protect their precious seeds from injury. In our common 

 fall dandelion the whole flower closes up while the seeds are 

 ripening, but reopens at their maturity. Furthermore, the up- 

 right flower stalk sinks to the ground when the flowers fade, but 

 erects itself again when the seeds are ready to be scattered by the 

 wind. In one of our winter house plants, the common cyclamen, 

 the flower stalk coils up after flowering, bringing the pod to the 

 ground to ripen ; and our sweet white water lily, after expanding 

 and withering above water, sinks to mature its seeds in safety. 

 Other more remarkable but less common cases might be cited 

 to show the extreme care with which plants preserve their seeds 

 from possible destruction. 



At maturity the one object of the seed is to secure the advan- 

 tages of wide dispersion, and to effect this purpose Nature uses all 

 means at hand. The agencies against which she so lately con- 

 trived are now most sedulously sought, and almost endless are the 

 modifications of structure which enable seeds to spread far and 

 wide. 



" Dehiscence," the splitting open of a ripe pod, is manifestly a 

 provision for seed dispersion. In its simplest form dehiscence 

 merely exposes seeds to various conveying agencies : to the wind, 

 in the milkweed ; to birds, in the case of some brightly colored 

 beans. Other plants, however, do more than this. Our wild 



