176 



SEED COLLECTING AND DRYING. 



Rev. E. a. WOODRUFFE PEACOCK. F.L.S., F.G.S., 



Cadney Vicarage , Brigg. 



Few workers at our flora have made this branch of the subject 

 a special study, so a few notes on one or two most important 

 points concerning seed collecting- and preparing- may not be out 

 of place in 'The Naturalist.' 



Mature seeds are the objects of the student's quest, such as 

 would most certainly g-row, if planted in a fitting- soil. Maturity, 

 however, is a relative term, and it is not wise to reject the seeds 

 even of the commonest species, because they are not ready to 

 fall fully ripe from the receptacle at a touch. Even when species 

 are found blooming in every pasture and meadow, hedge bank, 

 and roadside waste, it does not necessarily follow that their 

 seeds are easily obtained in a first-rate condition for a collection. 

 Ranunculus bulbosus is a common enough species and a free 

 seeder, but it will require no little care to get the seeds just in 

 the right state for drying, so that they can be distinguished at 

 a glance from their next neighbours, R. sardous (or R. hirsiitus) 

 in a series. To make absolutely certain both species have to be 

 obtained in two series, (i) free, and (2) still attached to the 

 receptacles. A species, too, may be so off-type that it can only 

 be identified by its seeds, as was the case with a specimen of 

 R. parvijiorus from near Grimsby, shown me by Mr. A. Smith, 

 F.L.S. 



These are small matters, however, where big ones come. 

 R. Ficaria is a reputation spoiler, if you want an exacting 

 species. It is one of the most puzzling nuts for evolutionists of 

 the Grant Allen school to crack. Assuming as they do, for the 

 sake of their argument that the size and colour of flowers have 

 been developed by insect visitors, here is a strikingly conspicuous 

 species, which insects have practically ceased to visit, remark- 

 able though it is in the spring dearth of flowers for size and 

 colour. It is a more widely dispersed species than R. bulbosus, 

 but what a contrast. Ten thousand receptacles may not yield 

 a single seed ! When you do find one or two watch them 

 continually or your collection will never have specimens. In 

 ten years I have succeeded in adding ten fairly matured seeds of 

 R. Ficaria to my collection. 



Natur.iliht. 



