284 ADAPTATIONS AMONG ALPINE PLANTS 



In the majority of cases the seeds are shed 

 individually from the fruits, and distributed chiefly by 

 the agency of wind, which plays an especially 

 important part as a disseminator within the Alpine 

 zone. Dr Vogler has shown that the number of wind- 

 distributed species in the Alps is nearly 60 per cent, 

 of the whole flora — that is, more than half as much 

 again as the number in the Lowlands (38 per cent.). 

 The percentage of animal-distributed plants is only 

 3 per cent., whereas in the plains it is 16 per cent. 



The great majority of Alpine species have very 

 minute seeds, as in the case of the Saxifrages, 

 Campanulas, and Primulas, which are shed individu- 

 ally from the capsule or fruit. As a rule, these seeds 

 possess no special adaptation to wind-distribution, 

 beyond their small size and lightness. 



Some seeds, however, possess tufts of hairs which 

 render them admirably adapted for wind-distribution, 

 as in the case of the Willowherbs {Epilobium) and the 

 Alpine Willows (Salix). More frequently the seed 

 remains enclosed in the fruit, which may develop 

 hairs adapted to dispersal by the wind. Such fruits 

 are common to many members of the order Com- 

 positse. The parachute-like hairs of the fruit of 

 the Dandelion (Taraxacum) afford an excellent 

 example. 



In the case oiAtragene (p. 230), Dryas (p. 108), and 

 some species, but not all, of Anemone (pp. 36 and 39), 

 the style of the ovary develops into a long, feathery 

 awn, which enables the fruit, which here encloses 



