Our Field and Forest Trees 



Fig. g. Apple seed. 



A, Showing the two coats; 



B, With the coats re- 

 moved, showing the two 

 cotyledons. 



tough core (Fig. 3). Having eaten the apple, 

 we throw away the core and thus perhaps sow an 

 apple tree. 



Many herbs bear prickly fruits or seeds, which 

 catch hold and cling wherever 

 opportunity offers, and in this 

 way secure transportation. A 

 large number of seeds have 

 thus like tramps, crossed the 

 country in a series of stolen 

 rides. Such hooked or thorny 

 fruits or seeds grow on plants 

 whose branches are likely to 

 brush the passing wayfarer. 

 No native tree bears prickly or thorny seeds. 



The prickles of chestnut and beech burrs seem 

 merely given for a protection against prying paws 

 while the nuts are ripening. For when a nut is 

 eaten the baby tree folded within it is devoured 

 and done for; hence nature tries to hide nuts. 

 They are green while on the tree, so that they are 

 not readily seen among the leaves. But as they 

 ripen they turn brown, so that when they drop to 

 the ground they still match their surroundings — 

 the earth and the withered leaves. 



Moreover, they are almost always protected by 

 coverings. The walnut has a bitter rind, chestnuts 

 and beechnuts are enclosed in prickly burrs, and 

 the hazelnuts are so hidden in leaflike cases that It 

 Is difficult to see them among the leaves. 



