22 
NATUKK study. 
ingly shown by inquiries made last June of more than fift}^ 
persons, members of the Manchester Institute and others 
who love flowers and know somewhat about them. Of 
this number, only two had ever seen a Mayflower “ gone 
to .seed,” and these were keen-eyed gentlemen, fond of 
trout-fishing, and accustomed to find their way carefully 
and observantly through all sorts of wild and out-of-the- 
way places, who had .sometimes seen the Mayflower in 
fruit, and had been reminded of the “ chee.ses ” of the 
Mallow {Malva rotundiflora) ^ another delight of child¬ 
hood. 
The picture, showing the seed capsules slightly larger 
than natural size, is of a clu.ster sent by a lady in Ando¬ 
ver, N. H., who, having noticed that bees were busy about 
the blossoms, continued her observations and later found 
the perfect fruit in considerable quantities. It has been 
generally assumed that the Mayflower commonly repro¬ 
duces itself by sending down roots from the joints of the 
trailing stem, and that seeds have little to do with its in¬ 
crease or persistency in any given locality. It will, there¬ 
fore, be of interest to make careful observations in future 
years for the purpose of ascertaining whether the seeds are 
frequently or but rarely produced. 
The capsules, which, as shown by the photograph, sug¬ 
gest the “cheeses” of the Mallow, are divided into five 
compartments, each of which is closely packed with tiny 
seeds. The number of seeds varies widely, but even in 
those capsules which contain the fewest there are so many 
as to suggest that if seed-bearing were common with the 
Mayflower, it could no more be exterminated than the field 
daisy can be. 
The seeds, seen beneath a low power, of the microscope, 
or with a good hand lens, are very beautiful. They are 
regularly elliptical in shape and of a bright gold color, 
tending to a rich brown as they l)econie fully ripe and dry. 
