FLOWERS AND FRUITS 159 



their fruits and seeds examined in the hope of determin- 

 ing how they also reached these out-of-the-way places. 



It is not, as a rule, difficult to suggest the possible 

 means by which the plants have reached their present 

 situations, if attention is paid to the previous notes on 

 seed dispersal, and if a careful study is made of the 

 examples given below. 



Wind-Borne Seeds. 



Examine the seeds of ordinary lawn grass and see 

 how small and light they are, and that they are readily 

 blown about in the wind. If any wild orchids are to be 

 found in your neighbourhood examine the seeds of some 

 of these. They are extremely small and also readily 

 carried in the air. 



Collect dandelion "flowers" in various stages, or 

 better still keep one particular " flower " under observa- 

 tion, and notice the changes through which it passes. 

 At first it appears as a bud ; this opens into the dande- 

 lion " flower," or, as we know it really is, collection of 

 flowers. After a time it fades, and then the head closes 

 up, and might at first sight be mistaken for a bud. 

 Open another head in a similar stage, and it will not be 

 difficult to see that the lower parts of the old withered 

 flowers are swelling and forming little seed-like bodies, 

 In another few days the head once more opens, but 

 instead of the flowers we find a large number of small, 

 dark brown, seed-like bodies, each with a dainty white 

 parachute attached to it. Blow these ; they float away 

 through the air carrying the seed-like bodies with 

 them, and after travelling a longer or shorter distance, 



