Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1897-09-02
LITTLE TRAVELLERS.



oS AR anu water
Men, women ana chiIureh' 100 nave
sometimes travelled rapidly through the
air in balloons for long or short dis
tauces but this way of travelling has its
difHcnlties and dancers Bv and Inv if
49, hoco,,,, +, -;,,s,,.,, ,,s,. 30 ;o,rnevip,
---..- H.
Also " "l'e'' 'iie s'"i 'i"7 anu 's'PpAHe
OF them better ihah We cah GU no"'
However, there are always plenty OF
travellers i'll the air, birds, insects and
other living creatures-Snm which few
people think of or notice, as, for in.
stance. seeds Man Is great sower.
Year by year he puts in many seeds.
We see the results IN the gardens and
fields. but still larger Is the number of
seeds which are not Distributed through
man. seeds carried about by birds, or
waited upon the hreezes. 1t Is probably
during country walks in summer or
autumn that we NEST frequently catch
sight Of seeds travelling through the
air. vet even in winter and spring some
are on the move which have ripened
slowly and waited for a strong wind to
give them a start
There are seeds, many Of them well
known to our young folk, which have
either what are called wings or some
thing that answers the same purpose.
Some of the winged seeds belong to
trees. The KEYS of the ash and syca-
more are the seeds, with bits of mem
brane over them, which act like wings
or sails Other forest trees have the
like Most of the pines and frs, for in
stance, when their cones burst open,
send out their seeds, ready to speed
along, and often they travel good dis
lance. The hop has the small fiat seed
attached to a scale, so that the wind
NAV support il, but this plant has only
a few flowers that are fertile. Then, in
the group of plants which botanists call
the umbellifers, because the flower
stalks spread cut somewhat in umbrella
fashion, there are several kinds which
have small winged seeds. such as the
common COW parsley.
Hosts of seeds which travel past Us,
or perhaps above Us. have not wings ex-
actly. but curious sort of fringe,
which is light, elastic and vet strong.
Often il is above the seed, and when
that is ripe this fringe OPENS in shuttle
cock STYLE, and the future plant starts
off rapidlv or slowly, rs NAV happen.
This is best seen in the great family of
the composites. There it has the rame
of pappus. Bows and girls know
well the parpus Of the dandelion. 1t
is an amusement to blow off the feath-
cred seeds from the round flower heads
Of that plant, or Of one Of its kindred,
the hawkweeds.
Similar tops occur in the haw kweeds.
and also in the hawks beard. the shay
gv long dewn suggesting their name.
The groundse!s. again. have the Latin
name of senecio. because their white
pappus was thought TO be like the hoarv
hairs Of old age Among the thistles
and knapweeds the bristlv or spiny
flower heads which act as a defense to
the plants serve also to convey the
seeds RAPIDLY to distant places. and new
crops spring up. often of surprising ex-
tent. Ii is fact that a we'll known
thistle Of Europe. the seed of which
somehow travelled to South America,
has covered immense plains there, -four
ishing in the warmth aud moisture of
that region and stopping the growth Of