THE YOUNG NATURALIST. 



3 



Similar hooked bristles abound in 

 Leguminosse, and in the medicks — 

 clover-like forage plants. To these 

 appliances we owe the introduction of 

 several species now well established in 

 this country, and many more may be 

 found springing up in the neighbour- 

 hood of wool sorting factories. In 

 Umbeiliferae, the same contrivance 

 exists in the wood sanicle {Sanicula), 

 common in every lowland wood. In 

 the hedge parsley [Torilis), abundant 

 by dry road sides and hedges. And 

 in the carrot [Bauciis), the ripe fruit 

 with its bristling spines like wriggKng, 

 many-footed centipedes, forms an 

 inextricable mass, which the gardener 

 requires to pulverise by rubbing with 

 dry soil, so that he may get them 

 sufficiently separated to be able to 

 sow them. In Eosacese the fruits of 

 meadow sweet, agrimony and avens, 

 known locally as soldiers' buttons," 

 are all similarly equipped. In Com- 

 positse the same end is attained by the 

 barbed scales of the involucre, as in 

 the burdock (Arctium), the mature 

 heads of which adhere with grapnel 

 like tenacity, teaching holiday ramblers 

 that it is indeed a friend that sticketh 

 closer than a brother.'^ It is obviously 

 apparent that the formidable spines on 

 the flower heads of various thistles and 

 knapweeds, although primarily for 

 purposes of defence, will be also avail- 

 able for transporting the fruit. Doubt- 

 less they furnished the original design 



for the "caltrops" which so embarassed 

 the English cavalry at the famous field 

 of Bannockburn. The bristly hooks 

 of the flower head of the Teasel, have 

 been utilized from time immemorial 

 for raising the pile of cloth. And for 

 the finer fabrics, its strength and 

 elasticity render it superior to any 

 artificial appliance hitherto invented. 

 The stout spines on the capsules of 

 horse-chestnut, and the densely prickly 

 involucres of Spanish chestnut and 

 beech must come under this head, as do 

 the awns of various grasses and 

 cereals, which when serrated with 

 sharp teeth are not easily shaken off, a 

 fact well known to mischievous school- 

 boys, who cunningly insert the awns of 

 barley underneath the clothing of their 

 comrades, to their no small discomfort. 

 The feathery awns of certain plants, 

 such as the anemones, and travellers' 

 joy {Clematis) show a gradual transition 

 to the next class, being equally adapted 

 for clinging to the coverings of animals, 

 or being wafted by the wind. 



In the second class, those fruits and 

 seeds more peculiarly adapted for aerial 

 flight, we have two distinct types, 

 in the one we have an appendage 

 of airy lightness, and graceful elegance, 

 of feather-like elasticity and strength. 

 This is called a pappus, and is typically 

 seen in the dandelion and thistle- 

 down. When mature this fringe 

 expands like a shuttlecock, or inverted 

 umbrella, and bearing the suspended 



