TheReview Wednesday, October 3,1990 — A18

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A WILD GERANIUM

Squirreling away seeds for spring

Mary and I had been watching a
red squirrel already gathering his
store of conifer cones for the
winter.

We had seen other squirrels
scurrying up and down the trunks
of trees, each time bringing a cone
to ground in its mouth and storing
it in a cavity near the base of a
large tree.

But this fellow used a different
strategy. He was a comserver, an
energy comserver.

He first drew our attention by
the miniature shower of cones
falling around us. Since there was
no appreciable breeze blowing, we
looked aloft for an explanation of
how the missiles were being
released.

“Tt’s a red squirrel testing New-
ton’s law of falling bodies!”” Mary
exclaimed.

“T_ook at him up there.at the top
of that taller tree. He’s nipping off
the cones faster than I can pick
blackberries.

“Then he just allows gravity to
take over. It’s a good thing for him
that the blokes passed the law of
gravity some time ago!”

“Yes, he has the Minister of
Finance backed off the map. Wil-
son is going to impose the GST
before it becomes law!”

We watched the squirrel for
several minutes. He’d nip off a
cone and then toss it backward
with a quick jerk of his head.

And then, quick as the flick of a
snake’s tongue, he was at the next

cone. After about five minutes of ~

this, the squirrel spurted to ground
where he began gathering up his
~ winter food and storing it away.

“‘He’s not so squirrelly, that
one,”’ Mary said.

“That certainly makes a lot
more sense than making a trip up
and down those tall trees for a
single cone at a time. Mulroney
could learn a lot from him in the
way of running an efficient opera-
tion!” :

“Besides that handsome rodent
is doing something for reforesta-
tion. Some of those buried seeds
are bound to germinate. And that’s
one way of scattering seeds for the
next generation.”

As we continued our hike, we
noticed many other ways in which
the seeds of plants were being
disseminated.

The parachutes bearing the
seeds of dandelion, thistle, goats-
beard, false dandelion, some

asters, blue lettuce and ragwort
were being carried on the light
breeze.

A round bristly head of burdock
with its many seeds was hooked to
Mary’s sweater, free-loading. So
were the burrs of yellow avens and
blueburr.

Starlings and robins were busily
gathering blackberries. The fleshy
parts would be utilized but the
seeds with their very resistant
envelopes would pass through
their digestive tracts unharmed
and later disseminated.

Fireweed had produced its long,
very slender seed pods which had
begun to split lengthwise from the
top into four segments, releasing

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CY HAMPSON photo

the minute seeds, each with a bit
of fine fluff to carry it away in the
wind.

And then Mary found another
wonderful mechanism for seed
dispersal, illustrated with this col-
umn.

A wild geranium, or “cranes-
bill”’, “heronsbill” or “‘storks-
bill”. Take your choice. At any
rate, this flower comes by its
common names by the long slen-
der, bill-like seed case clearly
depicted in the middle of the
photograph.

The seeds are encased in five
tiny buckets located at the base of
the bill. You can see them bulging
among the sepals.

As the seed case matures,

MIGHTY MAC

See the World Famous
se MIGHTY MAC CHIPPER SHREDDER

stresses develop and finally, in the : 6

warmth of sunshine, the five Different Models

strands to which the buckets are to choose

attached swiftly part company and from

curl sharply upward, flinging the

seeds some distance from the par- $89 00

ent plant. : -
Its seeds have been scattered and ¥

should germinate with less compe-
tition than if they merely dropped
directly to the earth below.

I once had a catapult that
worked something like that. And
so does the pseudo-provincial tree
of southern Saskatchewan, the
Caragana!

_e Chip trimmings up to 3” diameter
- Free swinging hammers will shred stalks,vines, leaves, <
dirt, manure, grass clippings and almost anything else a
you can think of.
:. Different models and sizes to choose from.

SHOP
SIDNEY

SERVICE tag ey.
EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH
Margaret Kinsman
CANTERBURY PLUS
Sidney is known for neighbourly service:
Each month the Sidney Association of
Merchants recognizes one employee
whose extra effort makes shopping in
Sidney a pleasure:

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See you in Sidney!

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with Ann Tasko 727-3451

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