2 20 Flowers and their Pediorees. 



grows juicier, while that of the almond grows stringier 

 and coarser, till at last the one becomes what we 

 commonly call a fruit, while the other becomes what we 

 commonly call a nut. Here, again, the reason for the 

 change is not difficult to divine. Some seeds succeed 

 best by making themselves attractive and trusting to 

 birds for their dispersion ; others succeed best by 

 adopting the tactics of concealment, by dressing 

 themselves in green when on the tree, and in brown 

 when on the ground, and by seeking rather to evade 

 than to invite the attention of the animal world. 

 Those seed vessels which aim at the first plan we 

 know as fruits ; those which aim rather at the second 

 we know as nuts. The almond is just a nectarine 

 which has gone back to the nut-producing habit. 

 The cases are nearly analogous to those of the straw- 

 berry and the potentilla, only the strawberry is a fruit 

 developed from a dry seed, whereas the almond is a 

 dry seed developed from a fruit. To some extent 

 this may be regarded as a case of retrogressive evolu- 

 tion or degeneration. 



The second great divergent branch of the rose 

 family — that of the pears and apples — has proceeded 

 towards much the same end as the plums, but in a 

 strikingly different manner. The apple kind have 

 grown into trees, and have produced fruits. Instead, 



