PLANTS THAT ARE ATHLETES 77 
also wish to travel, until often dozens of these ad- 
venturous wind-witches rise together hundreds of 
feet in the air. Sometimes they whirl like dancing 
mice, and the whole massive, yet airy, ball seems to 
be a spirited, living thing. Not uncommonly it 
circles from the earth in the form of a crown or 
wreath, which the wind places on the head of some 
lofty mountain. No wonder the plant is named 
wind-witch. This marvellous method of sowing its 
seeds assures an ever bountiful supply of these 
witches; and they play havoc with the farmer’s 
crops! 
The American tumble-weed (Amaranthus al- 
bus), also several grasses, especially the common 
peppergrass, has this hopping habit developed to a 
remarkable degree. Another example of a skilled 
hopping athlete is the evening primrose. When this 
plant dries up, it is soon pulled from the ground by 
the nagging wind. Sometimes its branches break 
in such a way that they give the impression of a 
number of crutches, by means of which it hops and 
limps over the prairies, like an aged cripple try- 
ing to get away fromastorm. This is its ingenious 
way of sowing its seeds; and yet many people have 
never observed even the beauty and wonder of its 
flowers, not to mention the novel manner in which 
