SlO T?ltE StfOKY OF tfHE PLANTS* 



distance. These flying fruits alight at last 

 upon some patch of bare or newly-turned soil, 

 such as the bank of a stream where there has 

 been lately a landslip, or the side of a railway 

 cutting. These bare situations alone suit the 

 habits of the baby coltsfoot ; if the fruit happens 

 to settle on a light soil, already thickly covered 

 with luxuriant vegetation, it cannot compete 

 against the established possessors. But the 

 winged fruits, being dispersed on every side, 

 enable many young plants to start well in life 

 on the poor stiff clays which best suit the con- 

 stitution of this riverside weed. The seedling 

 grows fast in such circumstances, and soon pro- 

 duces large angular leaves, very broad and thick, 

 which in the adult plant have often a diameter 

 of five or six inches. They are green above, 

 where they catch the sunlight and devour 

 carbonic acid ; but underneath they are covered 

 with a thick white wool, which is there for a 

 curious and interesting purpose. The damp 

 clay valleys and river glens where coltsfoot 

 lives by choice are filled till noon every day 

 with mist and vapour ; and heavy dew is 

 deposited there every night through the summer 

 season. Now, if this dew were allowed to clog 

 the evaporation pores or stomata on the leaves of 

 coltsfoot, the plant would not be able to raise : 

 water or proceed with its work except for per- 

 haps a few hours daily. To prevent this mis- 

 fortune, the under side of the leaves is thickly 

 covered with a white coat of wool, on which no- 

 dew forms, and off which water rolls in little- 

 -round drops, as you have seen it roll off a serge 5 



