Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Full Chapter 5G Technology 3Gpp Evolution To 5G Advanced 2Nd Edition Harri Holma PDF
Full Chapter 5G Technology 3Gpp Evolution To 5G Advanced 2Nd Edition Harri Holma PDF
https://textbookfull.com/product/4g-lte-advanced-pro-and-the-
road-to-5g-dahlman/
https://textbookfull.com/product/5g-nr-the-next-generation-
wireless-access-technology-2nd-edition-erik-dahlman/
https://textbookfull.com/product/5g-how-5g-change-the-society-
zhengmao-li/
https://textbookfull.com/product/long-term-evolution-3gpp-lte-
radio-and-cellular-technology-ahson/
5G Mobile and Wireless Communications Technology 1st
Edition Afif Osseiran
https://textbookfull.com/product/5g-mobile-and-wireless-
communications-technology-1st-edition-afif-osseiran/
https://textbookfull.com/product/fundamentals-of-network-
planning-and-optimisation-2g-3g-4g-evolution-to-5g-second-
edition-edition-mishra/
https://textbookfull.com/product/5g-nr-the-next-generation-
wireless-access-technology-erik-dahlman/
https://textbookfull.com/product/cellular-internet-of-things-
from-massive-deployments-to-critical-5g-applications-2nd-edition-
olof-liberg/
https://textbookfull.com/product/3d-ic-and-rf-sips-advanced-
stacking-and-planar-solutions-for-5g-mobility-horng/
5G Technology
5G Technology
Second Edition
Edited by
Takehiro Nakamura
NTT DOCOMO
Japan
This edition first published 2024
© 2024 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Edition History
5G Technology: 3GPP New Radio (1e, 2020); John Wiley & Sons Ltd. (1e, 2020)
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise,
except as permitted by law. Advice on how to obtain permission to reuse material from this title is available
at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions.
The right of Harri Holma, Antti Toskala, and Takehiro Nakamura to be identified as the authors of the
editorial material in this work has been asserted in accordance with law.
Registered Offices
John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, USA
John Wiley & Sons Ltd, The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 8SQ, UK
For details of our global editorial offices, customer services, and more information about Wiley products
visit us at www.wiley.com.
Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats and by print-on-demand. Some content that
appears in standard print versions of this book may not be available in other formats.
Trademarks: Wiley and the Wiley logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
and/or its affiliates in the United States and other countries and may not be used without written
permission. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. is not
associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book.
Contents
1 Introduction 1
Harri Holma, Antti Toskala, Takehiro Nakamura, and Tommi Uitto
1.1 Introduction 1
1.2 5G Targets 3
1.3 5G Technology Components 3
1.4 5G Spectrum 4
1.5 5G Capabilities 6
1.6 5G Capacity Boost 7
1.7 5G Standardization and Schedule 8
1.8 5G Use Cases 9
1.9 Evolution Path from LTE to 5G 10
1.10 5G-Advanced 10
1.11 Summary 11
3 Technology Components 27
Harri Holma
3.1 Introduction 27
3.2 Spectrum Utilization 27
3.2.1 Frequency Bands 27
3.2.2 Bandwidth Options 29
3.2.3 Spectrum Occupancy 29
3.2.4 Control Channel Flexibility 30
3.2.5 Dynamic Spectrum Sharing 31
3.3 Beamforming 31
3.4 Flexible Physical Layer and Protocols 33
3.4.1 Flexible Numerology 33
3.4.2 Short Transmission Time and Mini-slot 34
3.4.3 Self-Contained Subframe 35
3.4.4 Asynchronous HARQ 36
3.4.5 Lean Carrier 37
3.4.6 Adaptive Reference Signals 38
3.4.7 Adaptive UE Specific Bandwidth 38
3.4.8 Distributed MIMO 39
3.4.9 Waveforms 39
3.4.10 Channel Coding 41
3.4.11 Pipeline Processing and Front-Loaded Reference Signals 41
3.4.12 Connected Inactive State 41
3.4.13 Grant-Free Access 43
3.4.14 Cell Radius of 300 km 43
3.5 Network Slicing 44
3.6 Dual Connectivity with LTE 44
3.7 Radio Cloud and Edge Computing 46
3.8 Summary 47
Reference 47
4 Spectrum 49
Harri Holma and Takehiro Nakamura
4.1 Introduction 49
4.2 Millimeter Wave Spectrum Above 20 GHz 52
4.3 Mid-Band Spectrum at 3.3–5.0 GHz and at 2.6 GHz 55
4.4 Low-Band Spectrum Below 3 GHz 58
4.5 Unlicensed Band 59
4.6 Shared Band 62
4.7 3GPP Frequency Variants 64
4.8 Summary 64
References 64
Contents vii
5 5G Architecture 67
Antti Toskala and Miikka Poikselkä
5.1 Introduction 67
5.2 5G Architecture Options 67
5.3 5G Core Network Architecture 70
5.3.1 Access and Mobility Management Function 72
5.3.2 Session Management Function 73
5.3.3 User Plane Function 73
5.3.4 Data Storage Architecture 73
5.3.5 Policy Control Function 73
5.3.6 Network Exposure Function 74
5.3.7 Network Repository Function 74
5.3.8 Network Slice Selection 74
5.3.9 Non-3GPP Interworking Function 74
5.3.10 Auxiliary 5G Core Functions 74
5.4 5G RAN Architecture 75
5.4.1 NG-Interface 78
5.4.2 Xn-Interface 79
5.4.3 E1-Interface 80
5.4.4 F1-Interface 80
5.5 Network Slicing 81
5.5.1 Interworking with LTE 82
5.6 Summary 85
References 86
6 5G Physical Layer 87
Mihai Enescu, Keeth Jayasinghe, Karri Ranta-Aho, Karol Schober, and Antti Toskala
6.1 Introduction 87
6.2 5G Multiple Access Principle 88
6.3 Physical Channels and Signals 92
6.4 Basic Structures for 5G Frame Structure 95
6.5 5G Channel Structures and Beamforming Basics 98
6.6 Random Access 100
6.7 Downlink User Data Transmission 101
6.8 Uplink User Data Transmission 103
6.9 Uplink Signaling Transmission 105
6.10 Downlink Signaling Transmission 108
6.11 Physical Layer Procedures 111
6.11.1 HARQ Procedure 112
6.11.2 Uplink Power Control 112
6.11.3 Timing Advance 113
6.12 5G MIMO and Beamforming Operation 113
6.12.1 Downlink MIMO Transmission Schemes 113
6.12.2 Beam Management Framework 114
6.12.2.1 Initial Beam Acquisition 116
6.12.2.2 Beam Measurement and Reporting 116
viii Contents
9 Transport 213
Esa Markus Metsälä and Juha Salmelin
9.1 5G Transport Network 213
9.1.1 5G Transport 213
9.1.2 Types of 5G Transport 214
9.1.3 Own Versus Leased Transport 215
9.1.4 Common Transport 216
9.1.5 Mobile Backhaul Tiers 216
9.1.6 Logical and Physical Transport Topology 218
9.1.7 Standards Viewpoint 218
9.2 Capacity and Latency 219
9.2.1 Transport Capacity Upgrades 219
9.2.2 Access Link 220
9.2.3 Distribution Tier 221
9.2.4 Backhaul and High Layer Fronthaul Capacity 221
9.2.5 Low Layer Fronthaul Capacity 222
9.2.6 Latency 223
9.2.7 QoS Marking 224
9.3 Technologies 225
9.3.1 Client Ports 225
9.3.2 Networking Technologies Overview 226
Contents xi
10 5G Performance 239
Harri Holma, Suresh Kalyanasundaram, and Venkat Venkatesan
10.1 Introduction 239
10.2 Peak Data Rates 241
10.3 Practical Data Rates 243
10.3.1 User Data Rates at 2.5–5.0 GHz 243
10.3.2 User Data Rates at 28 GHz 244
10.3.3 User Data Rates with Fixed Wireless Access at 28 GHz 245
10.4 Latency 247
10.4.1 User Plane Latency 247
10.4.2 Low Latency Architecture 253
10.4.3 Control Plane Latency 255
10.5 Link Budgets 257
10.5.1 Link Budget for Sub-6-GHz TDD 257
10.5.2 Link Budget for Low Band FDD 260
10.5.3 Link Budget for Millimeter Waves 260
10.6 Coverage for Sub-6-GHz Band 262
10.6.1 Signal Propagation at 3.5 GHz Band 262
10.6.2 Beamforming Antenna Gain 262
10.6.3 Uplink Coverage Solutions 264
10.6.3.1 Low Band LTE with Dual Connectivity 264
10.6.3.2 Low Band 5G with Carrier Aggregation 266
xii Contents
11 Measurements 305
Yoshihisa Kishiyama and Tetsuro Imai
11.1 Introduction 305
11.2 Propagation Measurements Above 6 GHz 306
11.2.1 Fundamental Experiments 306
11.2.1.1 Path Loss in Open Space 306
11.2.1.2 Building Corner Diffraction Loss 307
11.2.1.3 Building Penetration Loss 307
11.2.1.4 Scattering Effect on Rough Surface 308
11.2.1.5 Human Blockage Effects 309
11.2.2 Urban Microcellular Scenario 312
11.2.2.1 Measurement of Path Loss 312
11.2.2.2 Measurement of Channel Model Parameters 314
11.2.3 Indoor Hotspot Scenario 315
11.2.3.1 Measurement of Path Loss 315
11.2.3.2 Measurement of Channel Model Parameters 316
Contents xiii
19 Verticals 547
Antti Toskala and Harri Holma
19.1 Introduction 547
19.2 Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN) 547
19.3 High Altitude Platform Stations (HAPS) 550
19.4 Drones 551
19.5 Vehicle Connectivity 552
19.6 Public Safety 553
19.7 Dedicated Networks with less than 5 MHz of Spectrum 554
19.8 Unlicensed 555
19.9 Summary 556
References 556
Index 613
xxi
Harri Holma
Bell Labs Fellow, Nokia Technology Office, Espoo, Finland
Harri Holma joined Nokia Research Center in 1994 and received his M.Sc. from Helsinki
University of Technology in 1995. He has been located both in Finland and in the United
States during that time. Harri Holma is currently working as a fellow and advisor in the
Technology Leadership Office in Nokia, with a special interest in radio technologies and
mobile networks.
He completed a Doctor of Technology degree from Helsinki University of Technology
(now Aalto University) in 2003. Dr. Holma has edited the books “WCDMA for UMTS,”
“HSDPA/HSUPA for UMTS,” “LTE for UMTS,” “Voice over LTE,” “LTE Advanced,”
“HSPA+ Evolution,” “LTE Small Cell Optimization,” and “5G Technology,” and has also
contributed to a number of other books in the radio communication area.
Antti Toskala
Bell Labs Fellow, Nokia Standards, Espoo, Finland
Antti Toskala (M.Sc.) joined the Nokia Research Center in 1994, where he undertook
WCDMA system studies as a research engineer and later as a senior research engineer
and CDMA specialist.
He chaired the UMTS physical layer expert group in ETSI SMG2 in 1998, and from
1999 until 2003, he worked in 3GPP as chairman of the TSG RAN WG1. From 2003 to
2005, he worked as a senior standardization manager with system technologies at Nokia
Networks and contributed to product development as the HSDPA chief architect.
From 2005 onwards, he worked with Nokia Networks as a senior standardization
manager, focusing on HSPA and LTE standardization, and later as head of radio stan-
dardization with Nokia Siemens Networks, focusing on LTE and LTE-Advanced work
in 3GPP.
He has coauthored eight books in 3G, 4G, and 5G, with further editions from many of
them. As part of the 2010 LTE World Summit LTE Awards, he received the “Award for
Individual Contribution for LTE Development,” recognizing his contribution to both
LTE standardization and LTE knowledge spreading in the industry.
He was nominated as a Nokia fellow in 2015, and a Bell Lab fellow in 2016. Currently,
he is with Nokia Standards, in Espoo, Finland, heading Nokia 3GPP RAN standardiza-
tion, with technical focus on 5G and 5G-Advanced towards 6G.
xxii About the Editors
Takehiro Nakamura
Mr. Takehiro Nakamura joined NTT Laboratories in 1990. He is now chief standardiza-
tion officer at NTT DOCOMO, Inc.
Mr. Nakamura has been engaged in R&D and the standardization activities for advanced
radio and network technologies of W-CDMA, HSPA, LTE/LTE-Advanced, 5G, and 6G,
and has been involved in strengthening inter-industry collaboration.
He has been contributing to standardization activities in ARIB, ITU, and 3GPP since
1997, including as vice-chair and chair of 3GPP TSG-RAN from 2005 to 2013.
Currently, he plays important role in promoting and accelerating 5G and 6G in Japan
and globally as the acting chairman of strategy and planning committee, the leader of
millimeter wave promotion ad hoc of 5G mobile communications promotion forum
(5GMF), the leader of cellular system task group of ITS info-communications forum,
the leader of white paper subcommittee in beyond 5G promotion consortium in Japan,
and the board member of 5G-ACIA.
xxiii
List of Contributors
Reunanen Jussi
Nokia
Thailand
xxv
Foreword
The last 25 years have witnessed an impressive evolution in global mobile commu-
nications from voice-centric 1G/2G services to 3G data services starting in 2001, 4G
mobile broadband starting in 2010, and 5G starting in 2020. In Japan, NTT DOCOMO
launched the world’s first mobile internet service “i-mode” in February 1999 on the
PDC-Packet(2G) system, and the service spread widely in Japan in the 3G era. Smart-
phones were introduced on the 3G system and have spread in the 4G era. The number of
mobile subscribers and devices have increased rapidly and data usage has exploded. Data
speed has grown from 2.4 kbps in 1993 to beyond 4 Gbps in 2022; that is a 2,000,000-fold
increase in less than 30 years. I have been lucky to be part of this evolution in NTT
DOCOMO, to have seen firsthand such great achievements and the great challenges
the industry has gone through to manage the fast changes. We are now witnessing the
beginning of the next major step in the evolution – that is 5G. We believe that 5G is one
of the main pillars to provide value and excitement to customers and opportunities for
value co-creation with partners in the 2020s. 5G also brings a number of new challenges
for the industry to fulfill all these promises.
NTT DOCOMO has been one of the leading companies in developing advanced tech-
nologies and services for new-generation mobile communication systems including 5G.
NTT DOCOMO launched pre-commercial 5G services in September 2019 and fully
commercial 5G services in March 2020. We’ve been conducting aggressive activities
to create new services towards the 5G era, such as the DOCOMO 5G Open Partner
Program, and we believe that many new enterprise services can be created together
with a variety of industry partners and that the market size of enterprise services can be
expanded drastically utilizing 5G characteristics.
This book provides a combination of 5G specification explanations, performance eval-
uations, device design aspects, practical deployment considerations, and field experi-
ences, which will help to roll out and tune 5G networks. The book has been written by
more than 30 experts from multiple companies around the world, including network
infrastructure and chipset vendors and mobile operators.
My colleague Takehiro Nakamura has been a key contributor inside NTT DOCOMO
and also globally in 5G standardization, development, and early testing. He has nearly
30 years of experience in the field. Harri Holma and Antti Toskala from Nokia bring
worldwide knowledge of 5G technology and its details. Harri and Antti have 30 years of
experience in the industry starting from the early days of 3G research.
xxvi Foreword
I believe that you will find this book enjoyable and useful in helping you to enhance
your understanding of the potential of 5G technology. I hope that we can witness
together a successful evolution of 5G technology towards 2030.
Takaaki Sato
Executive Vice President, Chief Technology Officer
Executive General Manager of R&D Innovation Division
NTT DOCOMO, INC.
xxvii
Preface
Long term evolution (LTE) networks were launched commercially in 2009, and the tech-
nology turned out to be hugely successful in boosting mobile broadband capabilities.
Global mobile data traffic has grown by a factor of 10 during the last six years. LTE has
enabled a large number of new applications in smartphones and has brought high-speed
internet access to hundreds of millions of people who never had internet access earlier.
5G targets are set far beyond LTE in terms of technical capabilities and potential use
cases. 5G is designed to provide ultra-reliable, low-latency communication which opens
completely new application areas for enterprise communication, like remote control,
or for consumer communication, like e-sports and cloud gaming. 5G will also boost
mobile broadband performance to data rates beyond 10 Gbps. These impressive tar-
gets require new solutions for the 5G mobile networks including new spectrum options,
new antenna structures, new physical layers, protocol designs, and new network archi-
tectures. A deep understanding of the underlying 5G technology allows us to take full
benefit of new capabilities. This book describes details of 5G specifications and practical
deployment aspects. The second edition of the book added more than 100 pages about
5G-Advanced which enhances 5G technology with new capabilities towards 2030. We
hope you enjoy reading the book!
The contents of the book are summarized as follows: Chapters 1 and 2 provide an
introduction to 5G targets and standardization organizations. Chapter 3 presents
5G spectrum options, and Chapter 4 network architecture options. The main new
technology components in 5G are shortly presented in Chapter 5 and in more detail
in the following chapters. Physical layer is described in Chapter 6 and radio protocols
in Chapter 7. 5G network performance is also defined by the deployment aspects like
site density and transport network. These topics are discussed in Chapters 8 and 9.
The overall 5G performance aspects, including data rates, coverage, and latency, are
presented in Chapter 10, followed by examples of practical field measurements in
Chapter 11. Device design aspects are discussed in Chapter 12 for the radio frequency
(RF) part, and in Chapter 13 for the baseband modem part. Internet of Things optimiza-
tion is described in Chapter 14. The latest updates in 4G LTE evolution are presented
in Chapter 15. The second edition added Chapters 16–21: Chapter 16 illustrates an
overview of 5G-Advanced, Chapter 17 focuses on the radio enhancements in 5G
evolution, and Chapter 18 on industrial Internet of Things evolution. 5G-Advanced
also enables new use cases that are described in Chapter 19, open radio access network
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
Fig. 37
It is said that the Indians boiled these berries, and then thought
them very good to eat.
If we were lost in the woods, and obliged to live upon the plants
about us, I dare say we should eat, and perhaps enjoy eating, many
things which now seem quite impossible; but until this happens I
advise you not to experiment with strange leaves and roots and
berries. Every little while one reads of the death of some child as the
result of eating a poisonous plant.
Fig. 38
The next picture (Fig. 38) shows you the fruit of Solomon’s seal.
These dark-blue berries hang from beneath the leafy stem, just as
the little flowers hung their yellow heads last May.
Next come the speckled red berries of the false Solomon’s seal
(Fig. 39), a big cousin of the smaller plant. As you see, this bears its
fruit quite differently, all in a cluster at the upper part of the stem.
These two plants seem to be great chums, constantly growing side
by side.
We have been so busy and so happy that the morning has flown,
and now we must be finding our way home to dinner; for, unlike the
birds, we are not satisfied to dine on berries alone.
Fig. 39
At almost every step we long to stop and look at some new plant
in fruit; for, now that we have learned how to look for them, berries of
different sorts seem thick on every side.
Fig. 40
Fig. 41
Low at our feet are the red ones of the wintergreen (Fig. 40).
On taller plants grow the odd white ones, with blackish spots, of
the white baneberry (Fig. 41), or the red ones of the red baneberry.
Still higher glisten the dark, glass-like clusters of the spikenard.
Fig. 42
Along the lane are glowing barberries (Fig. 42) and thorns bright
with their “haws” (for the fruit of the thorn is called a “haw”). These
look something like little apples.
Here, too, is the black alder, studded with its red, waxy beads. But
we must hurry on, not stopping by the way. And you can be sure that
those birds we hear chirruping above us are glad enough to be left to
finish their dinner in peace.
WHY SEEDS TRAVEL
A T last I think we all understand that by the red of the apple, the
purple of the plum, and the different colors worn by the berries
we find in the woods, these plants are inviting us, and the birds also,
to eat their fruit, and so release from prison their little seeds.
But what would happen, do you suppose, if no one should accept
this invitation? What would become of their seeds if these pears and
apples and berries were not eaten by boys and girls and birds?
Most of this question you can answer for yourselves.
If you leave the apple on the tree, after a time it falls off upon the
ground; and unless picked up, there it lies till it decays. In the
orchard every fall you see apples decaying on the ground. In a little
while the fleshy part disappears, and the little seeds are thus let out
of prison without help.
But many plants are not satisfied to leave their seeds so near
home. Why is this, do you suppose?
Well, this is quite a long story.
All plants of the same kind need just the same sort of food. If too
many apple trees grow together, they soon use up all the apple-tree
food in the neighborhood.
So if a seed is to grow into a strong, hearty, well-fed plant, it ought
to begin life in some place not already full of plants in search of just
the food that it needs for itself.
If a plant or tree makes its fruit so good to eat that some boy or girl
or bird is likely to pick it, the chances are that it will be carried at
least a short distance before its seeds are dropped upon the ground.
Once in a while a plant is rewarded for its pains by having its
young carried thousands of miles.
Think how far from its home the peach has traveled. As I told you
before, it comes to us from Persia.
Now, if the Persian peach tree had not made its fruit very juicy and
delicious, it is not likely that any one would have taken the trouble to
bring its seeds way over here to us.
But this peach being what it is, one of the most delicious of fruits,
the tree was rewarded for its pains by having its children taken
where they were petted, and made much of, and had things all their
own way; for no other peach trees were on hand to do their best to
crowd them out.
Then think of the little partridge berry. The fleshy part of this the
birds eat and digest. But the little seeds pass unharmed from the
bird’s stomach to the earth, sometimes many miles from the woods
where they were born.
What is true of the peach and of the partridge berry is true of many
other fruits.
Without the help of man or bird or beast, these little seeds could at
last get out of their seed cases; but without such help, often they
could not get the start in life they need.
So it would seem as if a fruit’s bright color and delicious flavor
were saying to us not only, “Come and eat us and set our seeds
free,” but also, “and carry us far away, so that we may have a fair
chance in the world.”
SOME LITTLE TRAMPS
Fig. 43
W HEN I came home from that walk in the woods the other day, it
took me some time to rid my clothes of many odd-looking little
things, such as you see in the picture above (Fig. 43).
This round burr (Fig. 44) was one of the worst of my hangers-on.
You know it quite well. It is the fruit of the burdock. Can some child
tell me why I call this prickly burr a fruit?
Fig. 44
Now let us look carefully at this seed case or fruit of the burdock.
Instead of being smooth to the touch, like some other fruits we
know, such as the apple and the pear, it is covered with stiff hooks.
By these hooks it fastened itself so firmly to my clothes, that it was
difficult to pull it off without making a tear.
Why does the burdock put its seeds into such a prickly case?
Please stop reading for a moment and try to answer this question.
Cudgel well your brains for the use of such a prickly seed case as
that of the burdock plant.
Now I am hoping that one of you children will be able to think out
some such answer as this:—
“Of course, the burdock plant doesn’t want its seeds to fall on the
piece of ground that has been used up already by other burdocks,
any more than the partridge vine wishes to drop its seeds in the
same little hollow where other partridge vines have eaten all the
good food. As this burdock plant cannot make its seed case so bright
and pretty, and good to eat, that the birds will carry it off, it must
manage in some other way to send its seeds on their travels. And
this is what it does: it covers the seed case with little hooks. When
the seeds inside are quite ripe, this case breaks off very easily. So
when the children come hunting berries, it hooks itself to their
clothes, or else it catches in the hair of their dogs, or takes hold of
the wool of grazing sheep, and gets carried quite a way before it is
picked or rubbed off. When that happens, it is far enough from its old
home to set up for itself.”
I should indeed be pleased if one of you children could give me
some such answer as that.
So you see this prickly seed case does just as much for its little
charges as the juicy apple and velvety peach do for theirs.
And the same thing is true of all those other hooked, or barbed, or
prickly little objects that I picked off my clothes the other day, and
that cling to you when you take a walk in the fall woods.
They are all fruits. They are the ripe seed cases of the different
plants.
But they are dull-looking, and often quite vexing, instead of being
pleasant to the sight and taste and touch.
This makes no difference, however, in their having things pretty
much their own way. We do not in the least want to carry abroad
these little torments, scattering far and wide their seeds, so that
another year there will be more burrs and barbs and bristles than
ever, to tear our clothes and worry our dogs; but they force us to do
them this service, whether we will or no, and never stop to say “By
your leave.”
At every turn they are waiting for us. Where we climb the fence,
and cross the fields, and break through the woods, we can almost
fancy that we hear them whispering together, “Here they come! Now
is our chance!”
They remind us of those lazy tramps that lie along the railway,
getting on the trucks of passing trains, and stealing rides across the
country.
These ugly hooked fruits have one great advantage over the pretty
ones that are good to eat. They do not have to wait our pleasure. But
when we are most busy and hurried, without a moment to loiter in
the apple orchard or among the berry bushes, then, quite as well as,
if not better than, during our leisure moments, they lay hold upon us
with their tiny claws, and cling closely till we set to work to get rid of
them. When we pick them off and fling them to the ground, we are
doing just what they most wish.
Fig.
45
In this picture (Fig. 45) you see the seed case of the tick trefoil.
This plant belongs to the Pea family; and its fruit is really a pod,
something like that of the garden pea. But when this pod of the tick
trefoil is ripe, it splits into five little pieces. Each piece is a separate
seed case. This is covered with hooked hairs, by means of which it
fastens itself to our clothing and to the hair of animals, just as the
burr of the burdock did. These little seed cases go by the name of
“ticks.”
Fig. 46
Here is the fruit of the stick-tight (Fig. 46). You see its two teeth
that are so well fitted to weave themselves into either cloth or hair.
Fig. 47 shows you a strange and terrible fruit of this same class. It
grows on an African plant, and may fasten itself so firmly into the hair
of animals, that the attempt to get it out is almost hopeless.
Sometimes an unfortunate lion will kill himself in his efforts to wrench
this tormenting seed case from his skin. In his struggles he gets it
into his mouth, and so dies.
Fig. 47
O N your way to school these fall days, often you notice certain
white, silky things floating lazily through the air. Sometimes you
catch one of these little objects, and blow it away again with a
message to a friend. Or perhaps you wish upon it. At least, this is
what I did as a child. Life in those days was full of these mysterious
“wishes.” A white horse, a hay cart, the first star, a wandering thistle
down,—each promised the possible granting of one’s most secret
wish.
That the thistle down comes from the thistle plant, you know. But
not all the silky things that look like fairy sailboats are thistle down,
for many plants beside the thistle let loose these tiny air ships.
Have you ever wondered where they come from, what they are
doing? Or do they seem to you so lazy, so drifting, so aimless, that
you doubt if they are going anywhere in particular, or have really
anything to do?
But by this time you have learned that plants have better reasons
for their actions than you had dreamed before you began to pay
them some attention. You have discovered that they dress their
flowers in gay colors so that the bees may be tempted to visit them
and powder them with golden dust. You have learned that they make
their fruits juicy and delicious so that boys and girls and birds may be
persuaded to carry off their seeds; and the better you know them,
the more certain you feel that they manage their affairs with much
common sense, that they are not likely to take time and trouble for
nothing.
Fig. 48
So let us look closely at some of these air ships, and try to guess
their errand.
I hope that some time ago you were told to get together as many
different kinds as you could find, and to bring them here this
morning.
Fig. 49
In this picture you see some of the air ships of the milkweed (Fig.
49).
The lower part of Fig. 48 is a seedbox of the milkweed. To this are
fastened the silky threads which make the sail that carries the seed
through the air with the least wind, just as the canvas sail carries the
boat across the water.
Can you think of some other plants that send abroad seed
sailboats?
Perhaps some of you remember the beautiful pink or purple
flowers which grew last summer in tall spikes along the road and up
the mountain side. These were borne upon a plant called sometimes
fireweed and again willow herb (Fig. 50). The first name was given to
it because it grows freely in places that have been laid waste by fire.
The latter one it owes to its leaves, which look somewhat like those
of the willow.
Fig. 50
Fig. 51
Fig. 52
Fig. 53
Fig. 54
Fig. 55
Fig. 56
Fig. 57
Fig. 58
Fig. 60
And as you have learned why the apple tree and the partridge vine
pack their seeds in pretty cases, and why the burdock and the stick-
tight cover theirs with hooks and bristles, you ought to answer these
questions very easily. You found that those plants wished to send
their little seeds abroad, so that they might get a better foothold in
some piece of earth that was not used already by plants hungry for
the very food that they most needed.
This is just what the thistle and milkweed and dandelion and aster
want for their seeds; and this is why they fasten them to little sails,
and send them far away on a voyage of discovery.
WINGED SEEDS
Fig. 61
M ANY of the trees also send their seeds on air voyages, in the
hope of finding some piece of land that will give them a chance
to grow into new, strong trees.
The seeds of the willow (Fig. 62) have silky white sails such as we
have found already in the plants of the milkweed and willow herb;
and the cottonwood tree is so called because its tufted seeds remind
one of the famous cotton seeds from which we get our cotton thread
(Fig. 63).
Fig. 62
There are other trees which use wings instead of sails when they
send their seeds flying through the air.
Fig. 63
Here you have the winged fruits of the maple (Fig. 64). In summer
you see these winged fruits hanging in clusters from the trees; and
later in the year they are thickly scattered along the village street and
in the city squares.
Fig. 64
You can understand how easily the maple seeds inside these
cases would be carried upon the breeze by their wings.
Each seed of the elm tree is winged nearly all the way round. The
picture (Fig. 65) shows you a cluster of these as they look upon the
tree.
Fig. 65
Fig. 66