. Elements of botany. Botany; Botany. THE FRTJTT. 191 What reason can be given for the fact that the burdock, the cocklebur, the beggar-ticks, the hound's-tongue, and many other common burs, are among the most persistent of weeds ? 229. Explosive Fruits. — Some dry fruits burst open when ripe in such a way as to throw their seeds violently about. Interesting studies may be made of this section in the common blue violet, the pansy, the wild balsam, the garden balsam, the crane's-bill, the herb Robert, the witch hazel, and some other common plants. The capsule of the South American sand-box tree
. Elements of botany. Botany; Botany. THE FRTJTT. 191 What reason can be given for the fact that the burdock, the cocklebur, the beggar-ticks, the hound's-tongue, and many other common burs, are among the most persistent of weeds ? 229. Explosive Fruits. — Some dry fruits burst open when ripe in such a way as to throw their seeds violently about. Interesting studies may be made of this section in the common blue violet, the pansy, the wild balsam, the garden balsam, the crane's-bill, the herb Robert, the witch hazel, and some other common plants. The capsule of the South American sand-box tree bursts open when thoroughly dry with a noise like that of a pistol-shot. How are plants benefited by the explo- sion of the fruit ? ' 230. Uses of Fruits to the Plant.— Those portions of the fruit which surround the seeds serve to enclose the ovules during their period of ripening, and to protect them from drying up or from other iniuries. ^ , , . , r • T 1 1 ii Fig. 178. — A Cockle- Other kinds of service rendered by the bur, slightly enlarged. coatings or appendages of the fruit may have been suggested by the questions asked in some of the preceding sections. Besides the dry fruits of which some of the principal kinds have been mentioned, there are many kinds of stone fruits and fleshy fruits, §§ 226-231. Of these the great majority are eatable by man or some of the lower animals, and often- times the amount of sugar and other food material which they contain is very great. It is a well recognized principle of botany, and of zoology as well, that plants and animals do not make outlays for the benefit of other species. Evidently the pulp of fruits is not to be consumed or used as food by the plant itself or (in general) by its seeds. It is worth 1 See Lubbock's Flowers, Fruits, and Leaves, Chapter Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illus
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