172 DIFFUSION OF SEEDS. 



by the wind, and many are provided with little 

 feathery balloons, by means of which they are 

 wafted away. During the time the thistles are 

 shedding their seeds, on some occasions the air 

 is almost filled with them, as they are provided 

 with a tuft which carries them on the breeze. 

 The seeds of the ash and sycamore have wings, 

 and are blown away in hundreds to very great 

 distances. 



The seeds of mosses and fungi are so light and 

 small that they are carried up into the air along 

 with the evaporation of moisture, and floated over 

 rivers and seas, to be left on rocks and barren 

 places as the first beginnings of vegetation. Many 

 seeds, as those of the burdock, the bedstraw, the 

 agrimony, and others, are covered with little 

 hooks, and are by this means carried away by the 

 skins of animals. If w r e look at our dress, after 

 an autumnal walk through a copsewood or thicket, 

 we shall find it covered with seeds, sticking by 

 those little hooks. Birds also assist largely in 

 spreading seeds. 



Questions. 



At what periods ot the year are flowers most plentiful ] 



At what period do plants mostly shed their seed 1 



What trees and plants flower in March 1 In April 1 In 



May 1 ? In June] In July 1 ? In August] In September"? 

 Mention some of the ways in which seeds are scattered 



abroad. 



What seeds are furnished with wings 1 



By what means are seeds carried away on the skins of 



animals ? 



