22 
LITTLE WANDERERS. 
on the outside, and are shaped as you see in the 
picture. 
Inside they are lovely. The pod itself is as smooth 
and shiny as satin, and there is a bridge running length- 
wise; to this grow the seeds — a great 
many in each pod. Each seed has a 
plume and looks very much like the 
thistle akene with its plume. But 
these seeds have no seed case, except- 
ing the large pod in which they all lie 
together. They grow inside this case, 
which opens to let them escape. The 
milkweed seed looks so much like the 
thistle akene that you would have to 
examine it very carefully to discover the difference. 
The milkweed seeds are brown and round and flat, 
and each has a silky plume, with no stalk to the 
plume. The seeds lie packed closely together in the 
pod with their plumes unopened, but when they are 
ripe the pod splits open down one side and the plumes 
fluff out. 
Then you will see a pretty sight. From the gap in the 
pod the pretty, silky seeds come spilling out. Their 
plumes touch each other and hold the seeds together in 
a soft feathery mass until along comes the breeze. 
Then one after another the pretty seeds float away 
and the empty pods are left behind. 
