The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1896-06-11
WINGED SEEDS.
Mattress Plan of Distributing Plants
without the Aid of Man.

Without the Aid of Man.
Tie terrible eruption OF Krakatoa, in
Thu sunda strait, in 1888, furnished the
on ,rtunity for illustrating the ease
W. which nature can replant with veg
euSle life a district that has become
gpletely isolated. The volcanic erup-
was one of the most destructive
recorded in history, the loss of human
| life being estimated TO exceed 100000.
Of the IS volcanoes on and near the
| Island of Java 26 were in violent erup-
| ton at the same time The center
| Oh disturbance was the island vo. eano
ofKrakatoa, which emitted molten lava
and burning ashes i'll such abundance
| that every living thing, whether animal
o vegetable, on the island was de-
S Dyed, and an observer from a ship
| VI .ch approached close TO the land de-
| cHf-ed that the whole island was red
| rs Four years from the date of the
| sotion the island was visited by an
| epent naturalist, who found that the
| les and lava had cooled to such an
I tent as to permit the beginnings Of
4 aetable life, and on making a closer
limitation he discovered that dur
the brief space of four years nature
Nssa-s~Keu the island with GAG differ
ent kinds of plants.
There are many seeds which seem, by
their formation, to be specially de-
signed for transmission though the air,
and of these several are quite as good
illustrations as the thistle. The seed
of the common dandelion, a plant to be
seen on every common, has wings which
will carry it away on the slightest
breath of air. The wings are very
slight filaments, radiating backward
from the seed, so that, when the latter
finally lodges, it falls tip first, in the
most favorable position for taking root
Country children in the United States
often find amusement in blowing the
seed from the stalk and watching to
see how far they will 60 before falling
to the ground, but whenever there is
even a moderate breeze the experiment
is uniformly failure, as the heecy seed
fly out of sight and are gone in an in
| stnat, and the next season a dandelioH
| SPIN u Ill SOlhcbOuN law IL, WHERE
the plant was never seen before. The
common tumble weed is another exam
pie of the winged seed. The plant
grows in a woolly bunch, which, when
dried, is easily separated from the
stalk, and light breeze sets the ball
rolling over the ground, to scatter its
seed wherever it goes.
The seeds of many ferns and micro
scopic plants are SO constructed as tc
be readily lifted and carried away by
| the wind, while some of considerable
size are provided with an elaborate ar
rangement for aerial transportation
The common maple is an example of the
last kind, for projecting from its large
head is a membrane closely resembling
in size, shape and general appearance
the wing of the locust. When the seed
is separated from the tree, even if the
air be quite still, it does not fall direct
ly to the earth, but, by lis peculiar con
struction, acquires IN falling spira
| mot ;es. tfIHtl takes it several feet from
Deneath the starting point, and when
a brisk breeze is blowing one of these
winged seeds has been known to twirl
| through the air for six miles before its
| journey came to an end and it sank Il
the ground, there to terminate ant
| start maple grove.-St. Louis Globe
| Democrat