332 



FREAKS OF PLANT LIFE. 



the pod of the tonquin bean and the fruit of an 

 almond. The families are too closely allied, however, 

 to give much weight to these resemblances. Perhaps 

 the pod-like fruits of some of the caper family 

 (Capparidaced) and their similarity to those of some 

 of the Leguminosse is more noteworthy. The form, 

 size, and colour of some small gourds, of the cu- 

 cumber family, such as the colocynth and the orange 

 gourd, approximate to the fruit of the orange. 



The winged fruits of the maples, with the seed at 

 ■one extremity and a veined wing at the other, is a 

 type of " samara " which is found repeated again in 

 other families. It occurs in a genus of Polygalacem, 

 which is found chiefly in tropical South America. 

 Our figure is Securidaca lomentosa (fig. 74). The 



Fig. 74.— Samara of Securidaca tomentosa, Heteropterys lauri- 

 folia, Gallesia goranema, Seguiera fioribunda. 



same form is found again in Malpighiacece, of which 



