Note 64 — Chapter XVI
Reading edition
There is one great peculiarity in this plant which deserves notice. The leaves are cellular, and so formed as to make sure reservoirs for the drops of rain, which fall into them from the top, through small openings. The seeds are furnished with a downy substance, by which means they float through the air, and take root upon any part of a tree or shrub upon which they chance to fall. The leaves always grow erect, by which means they safely hold the rain water. Dampier mentions piercing these plants with his knife, and catching the water in his hat when suffering from thirst.