, 1910-02-23
ON GETTING FREE RIDES AND ON
PRIMITIVE AVIATION.
(Confinued from AGi.s No. 12)

bers Of the grand order ConpoSucy or
Syoanethered, and before leaving that order
it may be well to study two or three some
what similar cases.
A tall weed with much divided leaves may
frequently be seen in tue roadside trenches
II it spraAg up i'll a garden we might mis-
take it for a dahlia, here in the ditch we may
take it for q wild cosmos, the beautiful flower
studied III the former part Of this article:
and indeed 1t IS II first cousin of that pretty
plant. This we see plainly enough when it
flowers, but . what q poor cousin it turns
out to be! 1t has y similar invOlucre of two
circles OF bracts, it is true, and is therefore
equally well protected in its infancy, but
within these we come to poverty four or
five meagre, yellow ray flowers, in Irregular
fashion seem to struggle out around the
border, within which is a small collection of
the usual 'perfect" flow, rs (foretsl in the
middle. Poor as it is, the plant is provided
with quite efficient means of getting lis
small fruits dispersed abroad, for TIE upper
edge Of the ca TX III each little flower sends
out some stiff bristles with sharp tips and
furnished with stiff hairs that point down
wards. AS the oyaIy ripeus into the fruit
Ohe 0cheme) the nchen0s turn outwards on
all sides and the bristles harden, ready to
insert themselves into the coat OF any passing
animal, the attachment with the receptacle
becoming weaker at the same time, SO us
easily to release the seed carrying fruit to
proceed on the Journey secured for it.
What is the name Of this pant ? It does
not appear to have any popular name, but is
known to botanists as Bidens 6~iniunatus.
In reality that is q simple name 6iden8
means two-toothed and no doubt refers to
the strap-shaped flowers of the ray having
two OAintC cIIob OOiOtC haiDr ooIloJ +nn4b H.
botanists; the second name, 6~jpi1matus,
means twice feathered, referring to the form
Of the leaf which is deeply divided, and
has each division again divided.
Let us look at another plant, also without a
popular name. On the hill sides behind
Basin and in many other places you may
find q very modest little plant with re-
markably narrow leayes arranged distantly
on thin stems, SO that the plant has an insig-
nihcant appearance Yet it is we'll worth
examination. The flower is small and slen-
der, with q few yellow ray flowers and a few
'p~erfect" disc flowers. Their interest lies in
the fact that the plain, sharp bristles which
grow around the flower, at first close to it.
turn outwards as the seeds ripen and then
~downwards, so that by the time the achenes
are ready TO start on their travels, these
bristles, which were soft and upright while
Cu6 0OWOl was ShONAnSJ Tx HOW mara ana
point downwards at an angle of about As
to the length of the achene. Moreover the
achenes themselves lean ou:wards on all
sides, 50 that these tiny grappling-irons are
i'll a capital position to hang on for a free
ride. This little plant is called PectjS pun
tata. Pectj8 is from pecten, a comb, and re-
fers to the pointed ~bristlee, while punctata
means dotted or marked with points, and YOU
will see ROW the plant gets this last name if
you will hold up a leaf to the light, for you
will see that, narrow as it j., it has room for
two rows of dark dots neHr the edges.
If we called the above named plant "mod-
est what shall we say about a first cousin
that may be seen creeping among the stones
III quiet corners of the Bassin streets It's
small leaves rounded at the ends will per-
hups make you think OF the purslones, but
when you pick up q piece with a little yellow
star growing on it you iud that the said star,
however minute it may be, is as clearly a
head of flowers as is the giant suuhower
itself. There are generally five occasionally
four) ray flowers, narrow and pointed, inside
of which are ten OF more disc flowers the latter
'perfect' the former female only. The plant
is named PectjS hmejfuSa, that is to say the