FLOWERS AND FRUITS 151 



his way through the plants must be familiar to every 

 one. The fruits with the seeds inside them may be 

 carried some considerable distance, but sooner or later 

 they are sure to be brushed off, and some probably fall 

 in places suitable for their growth, and thus spread the 

 plant from place to place. 



The fruits mentioned in the preceding paragraph 

 are all small, dry and hard. Animals also play a large 

 part in the distribution of quite another set of fruits, 

 namely those which are commonly known as succulent 

 or fleshy fruits. The fleshy portion is usually the wall 

 of the fruit, the seeds the important part to the plant 

 being generally small and hard. Animals eat these 

 fruits for the sake of the fleshy portion, and the 

 small, hard seeds pass uninjured through their bodies. 

 Examples of such fruits are numerous ; mention need 

 only be made here of strawberries, raspberries, the 

 various kinds of currants, grapes, and elderberries. 

 Apples and pears are fleshy instead of being pulpy, but 

 they are equally pleasant to animals, and their seeds 

 are similarly small, smooth and hard. In plums, 

 damsons, peaches and other "stone fruit," the seed is 

 protected by the hard stone, and most animals eating 

 the fruit leave the seed untouched. The fruits of such 

 plants are often green, inconspicuous, and unpleasantly 

 flavoured whilst the seeds are unripe, but after they are 

 ripe the fruits are often brightly coloured, easily seen, 

 and sweet to the taste. In all these cases the part of 

 the fruit of importance to the plant the seed is care- 

 fully protected from injury, and the plant actually 

 benefits from what seems at first sight a destructive 



