FRUITS AND THEIR USES 



55 



in the follicle of the milkweed, a fruit which splits along the edge of one 

 valve, the pod or legume of a pea and the bean, and the capsule of 

 Jimson weed and the evening primrose. In all of the above, the ovary 

 wall does not split open until the seeds are fully ripe. 

 This helps to insure the future growth of the seed. 

 Some dehiscent fruits scatter their seeds through the 

 explosion of the seed case. Such a fruit is the witch- 

 hazel, which explodes with such force that the seeds are 

 thrown several feet. The wild geranium, a five-loculed 

 capsule, splits along the edge of each locule, snaps back, 

 and throws the seed for some distance. Jewel weed 

 fruits burst open in somewhat the same manner. 



Capsule of crane's- 

 bill discharging 

 its seed. 



Winged Seeds. The seeds of the pine, held 

 underneath the scales of the cone, are prolonged 

 into wings, which aid in their dispersal. The seeds of many of 

 our trees are thus scattered. 



Other Methods. Sometimes whole plants are carried by the 

 high winds of the fall. This is effected in the plants called tumble- 

 weeds, in which the plant body, as it dries, assumes a somewhat 

 spherical shape. The main stalk breaks off, and the plant may 



then be blown along the ground, 

 scattering seeds as it goes, until 

 it is ultimately stopped by a 

 fence or bush. A single plant 

 of Russian thistle may thus 

 scatter over two hundred thou- 

 sand seeds. 



Seeds or fruits (for example, 

 the coconut) may fall into the 

 water and be carried thousands 

 of miles to their new resting 

 place, the fibrous husk provid- 

 ing a boat in which the seed 

 is carried. 



Cross section of a coconut in its fibrous 

 husk. 



Other seeds may collect in 

 the mud along the banks of 

 ponds or streams. Birds which come there to feed upon these and 

 other material in the mud may carry many seeds in the mud 

 attached to their feet. The great English naturalist, Charles 



