272 



THE MAINTENANCE OF THE INDIVIDUAL 



is much more rapid than vegetative growth, and almost overnight, 

 flowers appear. 



The flower, as has been previously shown, holds the gametophyte 

 generation of the plant and produces from fertilized eggs the seeds 

 which hold the embryos or future plants. The fruit arises from the 

 ovary of the flower, together with the parts that may be attached to it. 



Wright Pierce 



Adaptations in certain fruits for seed distribution. Can you describe the 

 specific adaptation in each case? 



Sometimes the parts are fleshy, forming edible fruits such as apples, 

 pears, or plums ; occasionally they form hard coverings such as the 

 shefls of nuts, and often they are prolonged into feathery outgrowths 

 which aid in the distribution of the fruit and seeds. Enough has been 

 said of distribution for us to grasp the significance of such adaptations, 

 the ultimate purpose of which is to place the embryo in new areas so 

 that when the seed germinates it may develop into a new plant and 

 thus complete the life cycle. 



SUGGESTED READINGS 



Biisgen, M., and Miinch, G. (translated by Thompson), The Structure and 

 Life of Forest Trees, John Wiley & Sons., Inc., 1929, 

 Interesting and authentic, 



