88 LUTHER BURBANK 



At the top of this monkey-puzzle tree, so 

 called, are borne several very large cones con- 

 taining the large nutlike seeds of the tree. 



In the case of the cactus the thorns were de- 

 veloped to protect the plant itself from destruc- 

 tion but in the case of the monkey-puzzle tree 

 the animals threatened not the tree itself, but its 

 offspring — its nuts were so highly prized by the 

 monkeys, and their number was so few, that it 

 was forced to take protective measures to keep 

 its seed out of the reach of enemies. 



From this we begin to see that each plant has 

 its own family individuality, its own family. per- 

 sonality. Some plants, in order to insure repro- 

 duction, produce hundreds or thousands of seeds, 

 relying on the fact that in an oversupply a few 

 will likely be saved and germinated; while other 

 plants producing only a few seeds protect them 

 with hard shells or bitter coverings, or, as in the 

 case of the monkey-puzzle tree, with sharp spines 

 at the tip of every leaf and all over the branches. 



In the deep canyons of California's mountains 

 there grows a member of the lily family, the 

 trillium. 



Near the bottom of these canyons there are 

 places where the sunshine strikes but one side. 

 The flowers on the shady side of the canyons are 

 larger, and the leaves of the plants are broader. 



