. Plant studies; an elementary botany. Botany. 120 PLANT STUDIES. Fig. 126. The fruit of carrot, showing the grappling appendages.—After suddenly curls up and throws the seeds (see Fig. 123). The squirting cucumber is so named because it becomes very much distended with water, which is finally forcibly ejected along with the mass of seed. An " artillery plant " common in cultivation discharges its seeds with considerable vio- lence ; while the detonations resulting from the explosions of the seed-vessels of Hura crepitans, the " monkey's din- ner bell," are often remarked b
. Plant studies; an elementary botany. Botany. 120 PLANT STUDIES. Fig. 126. The fruit of carrot, showing the grappling appendages.—After suddenly curls up and throws the seeds (see Fig. 123). The squirting cucumber is so named because it becomes very much distended with water, which is finally forcibly ejected along with the mass of seed. An " artillery plant " common in cultivation discharges its seeds with considerable vio- lence ; while the detonations resulting from the explosions of the seed-vessels of Hura crepitans, the " monkey's din- ner bell," are often remarked by travelers in tropical forests. 81. Dispersal of seeds by animals.—Only a few illustra- tions can be given of this very large subject. Water birds are great carriers of seeds which are contained in the mud clinging to their feet and legs. This mud from the borders of ponds is usually completely filled with seeds and spores of various plants. One has no conception of the number until they are actually com- puted. The following ex- tract from Darwin's Griffin of Species illustrates this point : Fig. 127. The fruit of cocklebur, showing the grappling appendages.—After Beal. "I took, in February, tliree tablespoonfuls of mud from three different points beneath water, on the edge of a little pond. This mud when dried weighed only Of ounces ; I kept it covered up in my study for six months, pulling up and counting each plant as it grew ; the plants were of many kinds, and were altogether 537 in number ; and yet the viscid mud was all contained in a breakfast cup I " Water birds are generally high and strong fliers, and the seeds and spores may thus be transported to the margins of distant ponds or lakes, and so very widely dispersed. In many cases seeds or fruits develop grappling append-. 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 no
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