LIVING COXDITIOXS; THE SEED 71 



3. Seed structure 



Covers — ]\Iicropyle ; (hilum) (Endosperm) 



Embryo 



Hypocotyl Cotyledon Epicotyl 



Root ; stem One ; two ; many Stem ; leaves 



4. Seedlings 



Structure Methods of emerging 



Food supply from ground 



QUESTIONS 



1. What objects move or act without relation to any other objects ? 



2. How can we tell whether soil is essential to the sprouting of seeds ? 



3. How can we find the conditions necessary to make seeds sprout ? 



4. How do sprouting seeds show that ''enough is better than more"? 



5. How does a grain (for example, the corn) differ from such a seed 

 as the bean or squash seed ? In what ways are they alike ? 



6. What structures in the seed are homologous to other structures 

 that you have studied ? 



7. What part of a bean plant is homologous to the shell of a peanut ? 



8. What adaptations can you find in the structure and properties of 

 the seeds that you have studied ? 



9. How could you show that the micropyle is not essential to the 

 life of the ripe seed ? 



10. What practical use can be made of rehable knowledge regarding 

 the conditions favorable to the sprouting of seeds ? 



11. What practical use can be made of the fact that certain plants 

 accumulate considerable quantities of food material in the cotyledons or 

 endosperm of their seeds ? 



12. Which conditions favorable to the sprouting of seeds are also fa- 

 vorable to the life of human beings ? Which ones are not favorable ? 



REFERENCE READINGS 



Bergen and Caldwell. Practical Botany, pp. 136-144. 



OsTERHOUT, W. J. V. Experiments with Plants, chap, i, The Awakening 



of the Seed; chap, ii, Getting Established. 

 Fanners' Bulletin 1175. Better Seed Corn. 

 United States Department of Agriculture. Yearbook for 191 5. Reprint 



679, How Seed-Testing helps the Farmer. 



