Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Grammatophyllum, a gigantic orchid
Plants have much greater facilities for passing across arms of the sea than animals. The
lighter seeds are easily carried by the winds, and many of them are specially adapted to be
so carried. Others can float a long time unhurt in the water, and are drifted by winds and
currents to distant shores. Pigeons, and other fruit-eating birds, are also the means of distrib-
uting plants, since the seeds readily germinate after passing through their bodies. It thus
happens that plants which grow on shores and lowlands have a wide distribution, and it re-
quires an extensive knowledge of the species of each island to determine the relations of
