INGENUITY IN VARIATION 139 



We do not have to go to the tropics for evi- 

 dences like these. 



There is probably no more familiar weed in 

 our vacant lots than the common dandelion 

 {Tarcujcacum), 



Who can forget its feathery seed ball waiting 

 when ripe for the first youngster, or the first 

 draft of air to blow it away on its long sail 

 through the air as it distributes its seeds — some 

 on stones, perhaps, and some on plowed 

 gi'ound, or in our lawns where it becomes a 

 pest — such a multitude of seeds that, though 

 many be lost, some will find themselves throw- 

 ing roots into new soil — starting life in a new 

 environment. 



Or we might learn a lesson from one of the 

 wild chicories (Cichorium) which provides some 

 of its seeds with wings to fly, while others it 

 leaves wingless. Those seeds without wings fall 

 at the feet of the parent plant as if to keep green 

 the old family home; while those with wings fly 

 away to start new families, under new condi- 

 tions, where patent traits and tendencies — 

 latent elements of weakness or strength — may 

 cooperate to produce a chicory better adapted 

 to its new environment. 



Or from that joy of childhood, the squirting 

 cucumber (Ecballium) which, when ripe, fires its 



