. First forms of vegetation. Botany; Cryptogams. 3'6 FIRST FORMS OF VEGETATJON. case touched, than it becomes suddenly inverted, and shoots forth, with a jerk, a little pellucid ball to a distance of upwards of three feet. This ball or sporangium contains the seeds, and is ejected with a force which, considering the nature and diminutive size of the plant, far exceeds that employed in the projection of a shell from the largest mortar, or a cannon-ball from an Arm- strong gun. It is a far more curious and interest-. FlG. 30.—Sph^robolus stellatus. Natural size, and magnified. ing object than th
. First forms of vegetation. Botany; Cryptogams. 3'6 FIRST FORMS OF VEGETATJON. case touched, than it becomes suddenly inverted, and shoots forth, with a jerk, a little pellucid ball to a distance of upwards of three feet. This ball or sporangium contains the seeds, and is ejected with a force which, considering the nature and diminutive size of the plant, far exceeds that employed in the projection of a shell from the largest mortar, or a cannon-ball from an Arm- strong gun. It is a far more curious and interest-. FlG. 30.—Sph^robolus stellatus. Natural size, and magnified. ing object than the squirting cucumber. Another denizen of the hot-bed {Peziza vesiculosa) exhibits somewhat similar properties. When the sun is shining warmly upon its cup, the least agitation raises a visible cloud of sporidia like a thin wreath of vapour. These are beautiful instances of the adaptations, with which nature has provided these lowly plants, for the certain dissemination of their. Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original Macmillan, Hugh, 1833-1903; Macmillan, Hugh, 1833-1903. Footnotes from the page of nature. London, Macmillan
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, booksubjectbotany, bookyear1874
