\ 



VOL. LV.— Xo. 3/J81. 



SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 1912 



THE 



GARDENERS 



5 



MAGAZINE 



NOTE OF THE WEEK, ^^"^^ <^'^^^^ plants which travel abso- wliit-li these .seeds are disseminated far and 



4^ 



esiir- 



Plant Locomotion. 



Tlio popular idea of a plant is that, un- 

 like an animal, it is a fixed individual, 

 wliich for the whole period of its existence 

 \< confined to the 



lutely individually. The so-called 1? 

 rect-ion plant (Selaginella leptopliylla). foi 



wide to seo that Nature is a past master in 

 locomotive construction. The balsam and 



>pot where it origi- 

 nated, 



bein 



an- 



fliored thei'eto by its 

 roots, and therefore 

 devoid of locomotive 

 powers. Like all such 

 assumptions as re- 

 i:ards Nature's crea- 

 ticnis we are, how^- 

 ^'ver, bound to fine! 

 exceptions, and in 

 this ca s e there a re 

 many. In the first 

 jjlace, since adventi- 

 tious plants pro- 

 luced by the straw- 

 '*'iTy, for instance, 

 at the terminals and 

 !H the axils of long 

 1 ambling runners or 

 stolons are abso- 



''itely parts 

 individual 



of the 

 which 



produ 



ces them 



we 



see here exemplified 

 ^ travelling process 

 ^'hich carries the 

 plants over consider- 



areas. 



able 



^he type of 



This 



IS 



niense 



an im- 



number of 

 of 



plants or many 

 diverse genera, which 

 virtue of this 

 power can ])ropagate 

 themselves 



of 



widely 



Without the aid 

 seed. 



this 



So clearly is 



facnltv 



looomotiA'e 



that 



recognised 

 we liave a so- 

 called walking fern 

 (^aniptosorus rhvzo- 



Phyllus), 

 nal 



instance, a native of dry, sandy aieas, sub- woodsorrel adopt a sort of explosive 

 jected only to occasional rains. This, when nu^thod, forming capsules constructed of 

 the drought sets in, contracts its pretty segments so arranged that a-s thev ripen a 

 green rosettes into a compact ball, and, greater and greater strain is exercised upon 



thtMT- <ni\atnr<' aiul 

 ♦ 'last iritv unlil. vi^dil- 



nig 

 the 



to tins strain, 

 v sndilenlv col- 



* 



an<l vscatter 



laps(^ 

 t h e i r 

 ds 



s e 



numerous 



catapult 

 fashion, in all direc- 



I" 



tions. A form of 



locomotion worthy 



of Jules Verne^s in- 

 vention, and, indeed, 



foreseen bv him in 

 his story of a jour- 



ney 



to the moon — 

 i.e., the aeroplane — 

 is to some extent ex- 

 emplified in the dan- 

 delion, and all the 

 multitude of plants 

 which use the air for 

 the distribution of 

 their seed. Here we 

 see the seeds deftlv 

 attached to a sort of 

 feathery parachute, 

 so contrived that at 

 the right m<)ment 

 tliey are let loose and 

 borne aloft bv the 

 breeze to travel, it 



mav be. 

 literallv 

 \\<:<>ds and 



niilo to 

 • 1 resh 



new 



)>a>tnr*'S 

 Many scwls, 

 a])|>ai*ently -drvnid of 

 any swvh adjuncts. 



are 



cuiuiinglv 



CHRYSANTHEMUM SNOW QUEEN. 



A new anemone-centred sino^]^ variety. Flower wholly pure white. A.M., E.H.S., 



November 5. Mes^r^. Cragg, Harrison, and Tragg. (J^ee page 881.) 



which, by means of termi- he: nmiiig detac'hed from the soil, rolls about trA 



j^ro- 



vided with means of 

 profiting by the loco- 

 motive poAvers of 

 other organisms. 

 We walk, for in- 

 stance down a <'oun- 



lane. 



l»i'us]iing 



the 



Were 



and 



buds on the fronds 



stride after stride over the 

 ^J", rooting in as it proceeds, 

 ""s justifying its popular name. Wood- 

 -lulia radicans does precisely the same on 

 a^argpr sc^alo. and many others do the like. 



in another dire<^'tion we have a large 

 umber of plants wliich travel by means of 



ntierground stolons, so that fresh indivi- 

 duals h,„ ... 



he<lg(*s 



and 



takes, as it tl^^^ surface, until it drops into some shel- 

 tered nook, where, on the recurrence of the 



Mavsi<le 



ft 



here and 



rainy season, it unfolds and roots in, and 

 re-establishes itself unharmed, a true travel_ 



grass srizes 

 a dozen 



weea> i\s 

 there 

 the 



Xhi 



pass, and everv 



cunnuiir 



gor.se 



o])portunity 

 or so of its little 



to attach 



ki<liu'v- 



ler indeed. It is^ how<n(U'. in connection shajied green seeds, clothed with tiny hooks. 



at 



or 



. >nt yet integi-al ])arts of those w 

 P»-odueo them, crop up 

 mller distanc<\s, and so travel freely on 

 propagating mission. We have even 



with the seed that plants best exliibit their 

 locomotive power. The seed, we must re- 

 member, is ])ractically a plant j>aeked up in 

 a protecting husk of its own, ind«^pendent 

 altogt»th(M" of 



to our clothes, an<l ])ossibly .-^cunc phiytui 

 i^ompaniiui may pe!t us witli the larger a»id 

 prickli<u- o»U's of tln^ burdock. In both 



u n w i 1 1 i n f?l v <on ve v t hose 



cases we mav 



greater 



the further ])rotection 

 afFor(l(Mi by pods. <'a])sules. or other rtnep- 

 tach\s and we ha\e onlv t;) studv the in- 



numerai)! 



we 

 niethiids 



oni v 

 ami 



SiH'^ds for miles befort* tlu^ clothes bi usli <le- 



tac^hes tliem. ami the <lust bin or tlu' wind 

 comph^tes tb.e operation by finding them 



contrivances by fresh quarters for development. In all 



