Fruits and Seeds. 217 



point, and stiff, short hairs pointing backwards. 

 The posterior end of the seed is produced into a 

 fine twisted corkscrew-like rod, which is followed 

 by a plain cylindrical portion, attached at an angle 

 to the corkscrew, and ending in a long and beautiful 

 feather, the whole being more than a foot in length. 

 The long feather, no doubt, facilitates the disper- 

 sion of the seeds by wind ; eventually, however, the 

 seeds sink to the ground, which they tend to reach 

 (the feather being the lighter portion), point down- 

 wards. Frank Darwin considers that the seed re- 

 mains in that position as long as it is dry, but if 

 a shower comes on, or when the dew falls, the spiral 

 unwinds, and if, as is most probable, the surround- 

 ing herbage or any other obstacle prevents the 

 feathers from rising, the seed itself is forced down 

 and so driven by degrees into the earth. I have 

 suggested, on the contrary, that the wind acting on 

 the feather gradually drives the seeds into the 

 ground. 



