2 



THE YOUNG NATUEALIST. 



migratory acts, yet the power of pere- 

 grination is often— indeed most com- 

 monly — inherent in the fruit, which 

 botanically speaking is the mature 

 ovary, such as the pod of the pea, or 

 the shell of the nut, which invests the 

 seed, which in turn contains the em- 

 bryo of the future plant. Fruits are 

 usually classified into two main divi- 

 sions, according as they are dry like 

 the pod of the pea and capsule of the 

 pansy, or succulent like the gooseberry 

 or plum. Dry fruits are again divided 

 into dehiscent and indehiscent, i.e. 

 those which open and allow the seeds 

 to fall out, as the pod of the wallflower 

 or stock, and those which do not open 

 but the seed only escapes on germi- 

 nation, when the walls of the ovary 

 decay ; as in the nut of the hazel or 

 acorn of the oak. But I will not 

 pursue these technical details further 

 as the object of this paper is to direct 

 attention to the dispersion of fruits and 

 seeds, and in doing so I shall draw my 

 illustrations of their locomotive power 

 solely from British plants, which afford 

 sufficiently striking examples, most of 

 of which can be procured by any one 

 who is enough interested in the subject 

 to keep his eyes open during a country 

 walk. I will, therefore, proceed to 

 classify fruits and seeds by their means 

 for dissemination : — 

 L Those furnished with prehensile 

 apparatus by which they attach them- 

 selves to the coats of animals. 



II. Those provided with winged ap- 

 pendages, by means of which they 

 are wafted though the air. 



III. Those fitted with elastic arrange- 

 ments, whereby the seeds are scat- 

 tered or shot to a distance. 



IV. Those with hard impervious cover- 

 ings able to resist climatic changes : 

 such avail themselves of water trans- 

 port. 



Y. Those of a juicy, pulpy, edible 

 character, with bright colouring, and 

 luscious taste, rendering them 

 specially attractive to birds. 

 Of the first class a familiar example 

 is the common cleavers or goose-grass 

 [Galium aparine), the " claggy but- 

 tons'^ of Northern boys. Any one 

 who has walked through a wood, or 

 alongside a hedge where this plant 

 abounds must have had personal ex- 

 perience of how persistently the hooked 

 fruits attach themselves to one's clothes. 

 One can easily perceive how the perti- 

 nacious adherence of these grappling 

 irons to the coats of animals, wild or 

 tame, must be of service in conveying 

 the seeds of such plants. The utility of 

 this provision is strikingly exemplified 

 in the immense number of plants of 

 the most widely diversified genera in 

 which this appliance exists. In Ean- 

 unculacese, the corn crowfoot {R, 

 arvensis) with a formidable row of 

 spines on either side, to wliich the 

 local name of Devil on both sides" is 

 appHed, is abundant in corn-fields. 



