THE FLOWER 



117 



pollen grain in 

 not as to form 

 vegetable tissue 

 take on various 

 shapes. Generally 

 their duration as 

 living elements is 

 limited. The walls 

 become thickened 

 and hardened and 

 remain, after the 

 death of the cells, 

 as components of 

 the plant's frame- 

 work (^e.g. the fibers 

 of wood). The 

 simplest plants 

 among the crypto- 

 gams consist of but 

 a siuQ^le cell. 



227. The pollen 

 grain a plant. — 

 In truth the pollen 

 grain itself behaves 

 like a simple plant. 

 For it absorbs water 

 and nutriment 

 from the pistil 

 upon which it is 

 deposited, and uses 

 these materials in 

 growth. 



228. Growth is 

 manifested in two 

 ways: (1) in the 

 formation of new 



internal constitution, 

 and external appearance 



though 



of course 

 The cells of 



164. Feitilizatiou of the ovule. The polleu lubes 

 traverse the loose tissue of the stigma and 

 style, finally emerging in the cavity of the 

 ovary. In the figure a tube is represented 

 as applying itself to the micropyle of an 

 ovule. This ovule is seen in section, and 

 shows at the micropylar end the embryo- 

 sac with several nuclei, one of which takes 

 part in the formation of the embryo. 



nuclei in the proto- 

 plasm ; and (2) in the extension of the wall in a 



tube 



