832 
THE LADIES' FLORAL CABINET. 
capsule of the Cucumber. Geranium Geum, discharges 
its seeds also when ripe, with an elastic jerk. But the 
pericarp of Impat tens. which consists of one cell with 
five valves, exhibits, perhaps, one of the best examples 
of this mode of dispersion. If it is accidentally touched 
when ripe, it will immediately burst open, while the 
valves coiling themselves up in a spiral form, and 
springing from the stem, discharge the contained seeds 
and scatter them all around. The bursting of the peri¬ 
carp of some species of Pines is also worthy of notice. 
The cone remains in the tree till the summer succeeding 
that on which it was produced, the scales being still 
closed. But when the hot weather has commenced, 
and continued for some time, so as to dry the cone 
thoroughly, the scales open of then own accord with a 
sudden jerk, ejecting the contained seeds, and if a num¬ 
ber of them happen to burst together, which is often the 
case, the noise is such as to be heard at some consider¬ 
able- distance. The twisted arm of Arena Faiua. or 
"VTild Oat. as well as that of Geranium Cicutarium, and 
some others, seems to have been intended for the pur¬ 
pose of aiding the further dispersion of the seed after 
being discharged from the plant or pericarp. This 
spiral arm. or spring, which is beset with a multitude 
of fine and minute hairs, possesses the property of con¬ 
tracting by means of drought, and of expanding by 
means of moisture. Hence, it remains of necessity in a 
perpetual state of contraction or dilation, dependent 
upon change of weather, from which as well as from 
the additional aid of the fine hairs, which act as so many 
fulcra and cling to whatever object they may meet, the 
seed to which it is attached is kept in continual motion 
till it either germinates or is destroyed. The arm of 
Barley, which is beset with a number of minute teeth 
all pointing to its upper extremity, presents also similar 
motions. For when the seed with its aim falls from the 
ear and lies flat upon the ground, it is necessarily ex¬ 
tended in its dimensions by the moisture of the night, 
and contracted by the drought of the day. But as the 
teeth prevent it from receding in the direction of the 
point, it is consequently made to advance in the direc¬ 
tion of the base of the seed, which is thus often carried 
to the distance of many feet from the stalk on which 
it grows. If any one is sceptical with regard to this 
motion, let him introduce an ear of Barley with the 
seed uppermost between his coat and shirt sleeve, at the 
wrist, when he walks out in the morning, and by the 
time he has returned, he will find it has mounted to his 
arm pit. This journey has been effected by means 
of the continued motion of the arm, and consequently 
of the teeth of the arm acting as feet to carry it forward. 
It is obvious however, that the modes of dispersion now 
stated, can never carry the seed to any great distance, 
but where distance of dispersion is required, nature is 
always furnished with a resource. Ono of the most 
common modes by which seeds are conveyed to a dis¬ 
tance from their place of growth, is that of the instru¬ 
mentality of animals. Many seeds are thus transported 
merely by their attaching themselves to tlio bodies of 
such animals as may happen accidentally to come in 
contact with the plant in their search for food. The 
hooks or hairs with which one part or other of the fruc¬ 
tification is often furnished, serving as the medium of 
attachment, and the seed being thus carried about with 
the animal till it is again detached by some accidental 
cause and at last committed to the soil. This is exem¬ 
plified in the case of Biciens. the well-known Beggar’s 
Tick, and Myosotis, in which the hooks or prickles are 
attached to the seed itself; or in the case of Galium 
Aparinc, commonly known as Goose-grass and others, 
in which they are attached to the pericarp; or in the 
case of the Thistle and Burdock in which they are at¬ 
tached to the general calyx. Many seeds are dispersed 
by animals iu consequence of their pericarps being used 
as an article of food. This is often the case with the 
seeds of the drupe, as Cherries, Sloes, and I-Iaws, all of 
which birds often carry away till they meet with some 
convenient place for devouring the fleshy pericarp, then 
drop the seed into the soil. And so also fruit is dis¬ 
persed that has been hoarded up for the winter, though 
even with the view of feeding on the seed itself, as in 
the case of nuts collected by squirrels, which hoards are 
often dispersed by some other animal. Sometimes the 
hoard is deposited in the ground itself, in which case 
part of it is generally found to take root and spring up 
into plants. But it has been observed that the ground 
squirrel often deprives the kernel of its germ before it 
deposits the fruit it collects, which it has been supposed 
to do from some peculiar instinct, as a means of pre¬ 
venting the germination of the seeds. It has been sug¬ 
gested, however, that the preference thus given to the 
embryo arises, perhaps, from it possessing some peculiar 
flavor agreeable to the animal’s taste, and this is, per¬ 
haps, the true solution of the question. Crows have 
been observed to lay up acorns and other seeds in the 
holes of fence-posts, which, being either forgotten or 
accidentally thrust out, fall ultimately to the earth and 
germinate. 
THE PEARL TUBEROSE. 
"We take the following article on the Pearl Tuberose 
from the Gardener’s Ulontldy, as the writer’s experience 
agrees so perfectly with our own; 
“ Ever since the Pearl Tuberose was introduced, it has 
been spoken of in catalogues as superior in every respect 
to the old variety, and we readily admit that for flower¬ 
ing under glass, too much has not been said in its behalf; 
but it is possible that in extolling its good qualities many 
of its admirers have either overlooked or ignored its bad 
ones. 
11 The charge we bring against it is that when planted 
out of doors it is not to be relied upon. This has been 
the case in numberless instances, ever since its intro¬ 
duction. Sometimes it does very well, but in most 
cases the flowers open badly, and they are so seedy in 
appearance as to be unfit for any purpose whatever. 
So true is this, that many growers have found it to their 
advantage to go back to the original, which, but for its 
occasional reversion to the single state, serves their pur¬ 
pose fully as well. The flowers of this sort may not be 
quite as large as those of the Pearl, but this difference 
is more than made up by their superior elegance of 
form and purity of color, under all conditions when 
growing out of doors.” 
