220 MYSTERIES OF THE FLOWERS 



away. This action transforms the appearance of 

 the seed-pod completely, and we now see it, as in 

 the sketch, where the little springs are curled up 

 all around the central axis. 



Several of the Bean family, the lupin, vetch, wis- 

 taria, shoot their seeds bv a sud- 

 den bursting" and curling of their 

 pods. The pods are made up of 

 two layers of tissue, the outer 

 one of which, in drying, shrinks 

 less than the inner. Thus there 

 is a tendency to curl inward, and 

 when the stress becomes too 

 great, the explosion occurs. The 

 pod opens from tip to stem, its 

 two sides curl suddenlj'^, and the 

 seeds are ejected with force. 

 The change is most magical, for, 

 at a touch, we behold the sim- 

 ple, narrow pod suddenly as- 

 sume the shape of a pair of twisted horns, and we 

 hear the patter of dry seeds, falling far and near. 

 The jewel weed, very approj^riately called 

 "Touch-me-not," acts in a very similar manner, 

 save that its pod curls downward, from stem to 

 tip. There is a thick axis along which the seeds 

 grow, surrounded by a pod resembling a small bean- 



LUPIN 



