Milford chronicle., 1896-06-19
WINGED SEEDS.


without the Ala OF SIAN
The terrible eruption oe Krakatoa' "a
the Sunda strait, in 1883, furnished the
opportunity for illustrating the cas-
with which nature ear replant with veg
eta.ble life a district that has become
eomnletelv isolated. The volcanic eruP
ton was one of the most destructive
recorded in history, the loss OF hun'ai'
life being estimated To exceed lOO'VV"'
of the IS volcanoes on and near the
Island of Java 26 were in violent erup-
tion at the same time. The center
of disturbance was the island volcano
of KraiSatoa. which emitted molten lay"
and burning ashes in such abundance
that every living thing, whether amman
or vegetable. on the island was ue-
stroved. and an observer from ship
which approached close TO the land de-
clared that the whole island was req
hot. -Four years from the date Of inc
eruption the island was visited by an
: eninent naturalist, who found that the
asfnzand lava had cooled to such an
eN4znt as to permit the beginnings u
vegetable life, and on making q closer
examiuation he discovered that dur
ing the brief space Of four years nature
had stocked the island with 246 diifer-
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, 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 flamerts, radiating backward
from the seed. so that, when the latter
finally lodges, it falls tip first, in the
most favorable position for taking roof.
Country children in the United Statss
often find amusement in blowing the
seed from the stalk and watching to
see how far they will go before falling
to the ground. but whenever there is
even a moderate breeze the experiment
is uniformly a failure. as the tieecy seed
fly out of sight and are gone in an in
stnat, and the next season dandelion
springs up in somebody's lawn, 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 a 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 to
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 fail direct /
~ to the earth, but, by its peculiar con- /
struetion, acquires in falling a spiral
motion that takes it several feet from
beneath 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 to
the ground, there to germinate AMI
start a maple grove.-St. Louis Globe
Democrat