AN AUSTRALIAN PLANT WITH
TWO KINDS OF LEAVES
A curious little Australian plant which has adopted a very similar plan of fly catching to that to be seen in the Nepenthes is the Cephalotus. One singular feature about this Australian pitcher plant is that it produces quite ordinary leaves in addition to the highly specialized fly-catching ones.
PLANTS THAT KILL EVEN
THE POWERFUL LION
The Martynias of South America produce fruits with hooks sometimes five or six inches in length, [172] which get imbedded into the flesh of animals. The African Grapple-plants (Harpagophyton procumbens) are even worse in the amount of suffering which they cause; thousands of antelopes, goats, and other creatures are lamed by them every season. The seed vessel of this plant is provided with a large number of curved hooks by which it attaches itself to the coats or hoofs of animals and is thus transported from place to place. It has been known to choke and cause the death of lions.
HOW PLANTS TRAVEL
Many plants provide their seeds with an apparatus which forms a singularly effective flying machine. Some of these are among the most beautiful and ingenious contrivances in the plant world.
NATURE’S AVIATORS AND
SEED-SOWERS
By far the commonest method of ensuring a wide distribution of a seed is that in which the object is attached to some light, feathery substance which prevents a speedy falling. Of this there is no better instance than the common dandelion, which at seed time produces the handsome “clock” so prized by the children.
Here each seed is attached to a feathery process which plays the part of a parachute. On a dry day, when the dandelion heads are parting with their fruits, we may see how well the scheme works. Each puff of wind releases a few of the seeds, and these, unlike the ordinary parachute with a load, are so light that they rise upwards on the air currents.
Curiously enough, the fruits seem to travel farther when the breezes are light, and a very rough wind blows them back to earth, where they may catch in the grass or become damaged. Thus, like the airman, the dandelion seed stands the best chance of a safe journey when the weather is not too boisterous.