President’s Address ]xxix 
the scattering of their achenes. Some, ¢.g., most species of Osteospermum, 
possess hard, nut-like achenes, without any appendages, but mostly 
rough on their surface, evidently to be scattered simply by the shaking 
of the branches, while one of its species, 0. moniliferwm, affords us the 
rare example of a composite with a drupe, and Oligocarpus calendulaceus, 
a near ally of Osteospermum, arms its achenes with sharp spines like a 
few other plants to be described presently. 
Terminal tufts of hairs occur on the seeds of most of our Asclepia- 
daceze and Apocynacez (Gonioma, Adenium, Strophanthus, Pachypodium) 
and on the tamarisk, while the nuts of Protea (see Fig. 3) bear such 
hairs at their base. The fruitlets of Forskolea candida are woolly, and 
Trichinium Zeyhert has feathery calyx lobes which act as wings to the 
fruit. Many grasses possess feathery or hairy glumes, ¢.g., Z'richolena ; 
others are provided with feathery awns, ¢.g., Stipa, Aristida ; and in 
others the hairs are on the stalks of each spikelet, ¢.g., Eriochrysis 
pallida. A few fruitlets are tailed, like those of our beautiful Anemone 
Capensis, the woodbine, Clematis brachiata, and the nuts of Protea (see 
Fig. 3), but the most ingenious contrivance of this kind is found on the 
silver tree. 
The fruits, which are of the size of large peas, ripen in winter. On 
fine sunny days the scales of the cone open, and the fruits are shaken 
out by the wind. As the little nuts are hard and heavy, they would 
fall straight down, and consequently germinate under the mother tree, 
if some special arrangement did not exist to prevent this, for the silver 
tree loves the sun, and could not thrive in the shade. In the cone the 
nut is still surrounded by the membranaceous calyx, which terminates 
into four long-bearded segments, These segments enclose the style, 
which does not wither and fall off after the fertilization of the flower, 
but continues to grow, and finally hardens. The moment the seed is 
thrown out, the membrane splits open, the feathered segments spread 
out, and the calyx slides up the style, where it is retained by the knob- 
like stigma (see Fig. 4). The whole process very much resembles that 
of an aeronaut who descends from his balloon by means of a parachute. 
The nut is consequently carried to some distance from the tree, and 
so has a greater chance to reach a spot not yet occupied by other trees. 
There are few instances in our flora where the whole plant or its 
inflorescence is blown about by the wind like the well-known Rose of 
Jericho. The umbels of several species of Bbrunsvigia, eg., B. multi- 
flora, so remarkable on account of their size, detach themselves from 
the stalk by a joint when the capsules are ripe. As the rays of these 
umbels, unlike those of other plants, are of equal length, standing out in 
all directions, they form a large star, two feet in diameter, which travels 
easily over the ground when driven by the wind, scattering its seeds, 
