No. 383.] DISPERSION OF SEEDS AND FRUITS. 861 
The bulblets of wild garlic are numerous on the river flats, 
and they float readily whether dry or growing. 
The Kentucky coffee-bean tree is not abundant in southern 
Michigan, but is oftener found along streams than elsewhere. 
The large pulpy pods may have induced buffalo, elk, or mastodon 
or other animals to eat, and thus distribute the very hard seeds, 
but in these times the pods usually remain on the tree till well 
dried, even till late in winter. When they dry they will float, 
carrying the seeds with them, but the seeds by themselves sink 
at once. 
In winter we often see dead tops of lamb’s-quarter and the 
smooth and the prickly pigweeds still standing where they 
grew in the summer. These are favorite feeding grounds for 
several kinds of small birds, especially when snow covers the 
ground, and at such times some of the achenes enclosed in 
the thin, dry calyx drop to the snow and are scattered by the 
wind. Birds carry away some of them, the wind blows some 
over the snow, and still others float on the water, buoyed by 
the persistent calyx. Without the calyx the achene sinks to 
the bottom of pond or stream. 
The common locust tree blossoms, and large numbers of 
thin, flat pods are produced ; but even when the seeds are ripe, 
the pods remain of a dull color. The pods of the locust wait 
and wait, holding fast for a long time, but nothing comes to 
eat them. They become dry and slowly split apart, each half 
of the pod usually carrying every alternate seed. Some of the 
pods with the seeds are torn off by the wind, and fall to the 
ground sooner or later, depending on the force of the wind. 
Each half pod as it comes off is slightly bent and twisted, and 
these are want advertisements given to the wind: “ Here I am, 
thin, dry, light and elastic, twisted and bent already; give me 
a lift to bear these precious seeds up the hill into the valley or 
over the plain.” 
And the wind is sure to come along, a slight breeze to-day 
tossing the half pod a few feet, leaving it perhaps to be again 
and again moved further forward. I have seen them trans- 
ported by this means to the distance of more than sixty yards. 
But many of the pods stick to the limbs till winter comes. A 
