SEEDS TRANSPORTED BY WIND. 
37 
of snow and search for seeds. By this means he can see, 
as he never saw before, how one neighbor suffers from 
the carelessness of another. 
21. Nuts of the basswood carried on the snow. — Here 
are some notes concerning the distribution of the spherical 
nuts of basswood. The small clusters of fruit project 
fig. 28. -Fruit and bract of // from a queer bract which 
basswood well adapted for 
moving before the wind on reHIcLIIlS Rjtt&CilBG. DBIOTG ctlld 
the snow. // pi p -i-i • p . i ■ 
alter iallmg irom the tree. 
This bract, when dead, is bent 
near the middle and more or less 
twisted, with the edges curving 
toward the cluster of nuts. From 
two to five nuts about the size of 
peas usually remain attached till 
winter, or even a few till spring. 
This bract has attracted a good deal 
of attention, and for a long time everybody wondered 
what could be its use. We shall see. The cluster of 
nuts and the bract hang down, dangling about with 
the least breath of wind, and rattling on the trees be- 
cause the enlarged base of the stem has all broken 
loose excepting two slender, woody threads, which still 
hold fast. These threads are of different degrees of 
