FRUITS AND TUVAU liSKS 



53 



The bUickbcrn,-, a fruit having smalt seeds 

 si'atti-red b.\' birds. 



It is ovi(lentl>' of considiMahle a(l\';iiit;i,n(' to a plant to bo able 

 to place its progeny, which arc to gniw up from seeds, at a eousiiler- 

 able distance from itself, in order that the young plant may be pro- 

 vided with a sufficient spaet' to i;et nourishment and foothold. This 

 is the result which plants \m\c 

 to accomplish. Some ai'com- 

 plish the result more com- 

 pletely than others, and thus 

 are the more successful ones 

 in the battle of life. 



Adaptations for Seed Disper- 

 sal ; Fleshy Fruits with Hard 

 Seeds. ^ — ^ Plants ai-e fitted to 

 scatter their seeds by ha\'ing 

 the special means either in the 

 fruit or in the seed. A'aritms 

 agents, as the wind, water, or 

 squirrels, birds, and other animals, maJvc it possible for the seeds 

 to be taken away from the plant. 



Fleshy fruits, that is, such fruits as contaiii considerable water 

 when ripe, are eaten b>' animals and the seeds passed off undigested. 

 Most mid fleshy fruits have small, hard, indigestible seeds. Birds 

 are responsible for much seed planting of berries or other small fruit. 

 Bears and other berry-feeding animals aid in this as well. Some 

 seeds have especial adaptations in the way of spines or projections. 

 Insects make use of these projections in ortler to carry them away. 

 Ants plant seeds which they ha\-e carried to their nests for a food 

 Supi^ly. Nuts are planted liy squirrels and blue jays. 



Suggestions for Field Work. — ^ Examine the fruit of huckleberry, black- 

 berry, wild strawberry, wild cherry, blark haw, wild srape, tomato, 

 currant. Report how many of the above have seeds ■n'ith hard coatings. 

 Notice that inmost, if not in all, edible fruits, the fruit remains green, 

 sour, and inedible until the seeds are ripe. In the state of nature, how 

 might this be of usi' to a plant ? 



Hooks and Spines. — Some fruits which are drj' and iiave a hard 

 external covering when ripe jiossess hooks or spines which enable 

 the whole fruit to be carried away from thi^ parent plant by animals 

 or other moving objects. Cattle ai'c responsible for tlic spread of 



