140 THE HUMAN SIDE OF PLANTS 
most other fruits, to say nothing of their flavours 
and sweet juices. These qualities make the fruit 
an object of much attraction, and cause it to be 
sought after; while the seeds, transported with the 
fruit, are protected from harm by hard or bitter 
coverings. ‘This method of insurance is used by 
various kinds of berries also, and by haws, grapes, 
and figs. 
One of the most ingenious ways of insuring the 
welfare of the offspring is used by certain small 
plants, which actually place them under the.ground, 
or hurl them away to places of safety. 
“With fierce distracted eye Impatiens stands, 
Swells her pale cheeks, and brandishes her hands, 
With rage and hate the astonish’d grove alarms, 
And hurls her infants from her frantic arms.” 
Not only the forget-me-not, but many other 
plants have this interesting method of insuring a 
proper dispersal of their fruit. The squirting cu- 
cumber will burst open with the slightest touch and 
spit its seeds out with a bang, like a squirt-gun. 
The common peanut, or groundnut, carefully 
buries underground its fruit pods, or nuts. These 
peanuts are produced from simple underground 
flowers, and the parent plant has buried them that 
they may escape the attention of enemies. The 
