126 
NATURE NOTES 
throws its seeds. Other violets bury them. What is the 
reason for this difference of habit ? I have elsewhere suggested 
that it depends on the mode of growth. The dog violet has a 
stalk, and the flowers are thus more or less raised above the 
ground. In the species which bury their seeds there is practi- 
cally no stem, the flower rises directly from the ground. Under 
these circumstances if the plant attempted to shoot its seeds, 
they would merely strike against some neighbouring leaf, and 
immediately fall to the ground. Hence, I think, we see that 
the arrangement of the capsule in each species is that most 
suitable to the general habit of the plant. 
In many plants with seed capsules — such as poppies and 
bell flowers — the capsules when ripe open at the top. The first 
high wind swings the cup from side to side and thus scatters 
the seeds. There are a great many campanulas, and there is a 
curious difference in the capsules; some open at the free end, 
some at the base. Why is this ? I have suggested that it 
depends on the position assumed by the capsules. In some 
species they stand upright and in these they open at the summit : 
in others the capsules hang down and these open at the base. 
Thus in both cases they open at the higher end : if they opened 
below, the seeds would simply drop to the ground, but as it is 
they lie in the cup till some high wind gives it a good shake and 
throws them to a distance. 
Perhaps you will say that these are mere fancies — purely 
accidental coincidences. Let us then look at our trees and 
shrubs as a group. Winged seeds are only useful when they start 
from a certain height. They occur in many trees — ash, lime, 
maple, sycamore, pine, fir, beech, and hornbeam — but not on 
low plants. Hooked seeds, on the contrary, would be useless 
on high trees or even on shrubs above the height of a horse or 
cow. They occur on docks, burrs, and many other herbs, but 
are not found on a single tree or even on any shrub. Edible 
seeds especially characterise low trees and shrubs loved by 
birds — such as the cherry, holly, ivy, yew, nut, &c. These, 
probably every one will agree, cannot be mere coincidences. 
One of the most remarkable seeds is that of a rare English 
grass, the Stipa pennata. The actual seed is small, with a sharp 
point, and stiff, short hairs pointing backwards. The upper 
end of the seed is produced into a fine twisted cork-screw-like 
rod, which is followed by a plain cylindrical portion, attached at 
an angle to the corkscrew, and ending in a long and beautiful 
featlier, the whole being more than a foot in length. The long 
feather, no doubt, facilitates the dispersion of the seeds by wind : 
eventually, however, they sink to the ground, which they tend 
to reach, the seed being the heaviest portion, point downwards. 
So the seed remains as long as the weather is dry, but if a 
shower comes on, or when the dew falls, the spiral unwinds, and 
if, as is most probable, the surrounding herbage or any other 
obstacle prevents the feathers from rising, the seed itself is 
