In Other Plants
Heat And Drought Cause The Seed-Vessels To Burst And Shed Their Charge.
One of this family is edible (`Mesembryanthemum edule'); another possesses
a tuberous root, which may be eaten raw; and
All are furnished with thick,
fleshy leaves, having pores capable of imbibing and retaining moisture
from a very dry atmosphere and soil, so that, if a leaf is broken
during a period of the greatest drought, it shows abundant circulating sap.
The plants of this family are found much farther north,
but the great abundance of the grasses prevents them from making any show.
There, however, they stand ready to fill up any gap which may occur
in the present prevailing vegetation; and should the grasses disappear,
animal life would not necessarily be destroyed, because a reserve supply,
equivalent to a fresh act of creative power, has been provided.
One of this family, `M. turbiniforme', is so colored as to blend in well with
the hue of the soil and stones around it; and a `gryllus' of the same color
feeds on it. In the case of the insect, the peculiar color is given as
compensation for the deficiency of the powers of motion to enable it to elude
the notice of birds. The continuation of the species is here the end in view.
In the case of the plant the same device is adopted for a sort of double end,
viz., perpetuation of the plant by hiding it from animals, with the view
that ultimately its extensive appearance will sustain that race.
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