84 



FRUITS 



in her crops by furnishing all sorts of devices for the 

 widest possible distribution of seeds. In the case of fleshy 

 fruits this object is accomplished, for the most part, 

 through the agency of animals. Our cultivated fruits 

 have been so altered by man, and the parts useful to him- 

 self developed so exclusively for his own benefit that we 

 cannot always judge from them exactly what service any 

 particular organ would render to the plant. But in a state 

 of nature, where the struggle for existence is so severe, no 

 species can afford to develop any organ or quality that is 



193 194 



191-196. — Adhesive fruits: 191, pod of wild licorice; 192, cockle bur; 193 

 achene of bur marigold ; 194, burdock bur; 195, fruit of hound's tongue'; 196,' 

 fruit of bur grass {Cmchrus). 



not useful to itself. Hence, if you will examine the wild 

 fruits of your neighborhood you will find that the edible 

 ones generally produce hard, bony seeds, either too small 

 to be destroyed by chewing, and thus capable of passing 

 uninjured through the digestive- system of an animal; or 

 if too large to be swallowed whole, compelling the animal, 

 by their hardness, or by their disagreeable flavor, to reject 

 them. 



On the other hand, where the seeds themselves are edi- 

 ble or attractive, the fruits are armed in every possible 



