THE HUMAN SIDE OF 
PLANTS 
I 
PLANTS THAT WALK 
In Malabar, or Deccan, spreads her arms, 
Branching so broad and long, that in the ground 
The bended twigs take root, and daughters grow 
About the mother-tree, a pillared shade, 
High over-arched, and echoing walks between. 
—Muiron, on the Indian Fig (Paradise Lost). 
HERE are in plants many different kinds of 
movement, besides the folding together of 
the leaflets, the drooping of the stems, the opening 
of the flowers, the shooting forth of certain seeds, 
the propelling motion of airship varieties, and the 
regular climbing habits of other species. Plants 
migrate as do birds or animals: that is, they travel 
and establish themselves without the aid of man in 
other territory than their former homes. 
The wind is the most common agent in the scat- 
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