264 Seeds and Sowers 



than it leaps up in the invisible stream of air, and 

 safely crosses the gap. 



Every few minutes a thistle-seed from fields 

 far below will come mounting the crest of the ridge, 

 and falling gradually with the air-current on the 

 further slope ; it is fascinating to see the precision 

 with which this apparently helpless sport of the 

 winds will part from its native fields, and search 

 out a new seed-ground on other pastures beyond the 

 mountain wall. The parachute-like seed of the 

 dandelion and many kindred plants is equally 

 well fitted for long flights through the open, though 

 less able to thrust itself free on every side from 

 snares and obstructions. The twisted membranous 

 wings of ash and sycamore seeds send them fluttering 

 with a screw-like motion to a point clear of the 

 shadow of the parent tree, though they can attempt 

 no distant flights ; and as the flowers of the wych- 

 elm are fertilized by the winds of March, so the 

 disc-like seeds are thickly strewn abroad, in the 

 time of their own ripeness, by the gusts of May. 



Another great class of seeds depend for their 

 distribution on living transport. All through the 

 late summer and autumn, burrs and hooked seeds 

 of many shapes and sizes are waiting to attach 

 themselves to the coats of wandering animals. 

 Even as early as May the green seeds and clinging 

 stalks of goose-grass begin to lap themselves about 

 man or dog in the copses ; and the butcher-bird, 

 which builds at that time of the year, has learnt 

 to wreathe the clinging stems into its nest. As 

 the plant withers in July the stems lose much of 



