4 DICOTYLEDONS 



from the sun would pass through the leaves into the water, if 

 they were bright green throughout; hut the violet colour absorbs 

 the heat rays and thus assists the growth of the plant. Increase 

 of heat causes quicker growth. 



When the tank in which the Lotus grows dries up, the leaves 

 with their long stalks sink down in the mud and perish. The 

 plant, however, does not die with the leaves. For, when the tank 

 is hlled with water again, the root-stock (stem), which was 

 hidden in the mud, begins to sprout again, and the plant is thus 

 perennial. 



3. The Flower also floats on the surface of the water at 

 the end of a long stalk. The four green sepals form a good 

 protection to the tender bud on its journey to the top, and as 

 soon as it arrives there, the sepals open out looking like small 

 boats. Their inner side is the same colour as the petals. These 

 latter are very numerous and grow in a spiral, gradually 

 becoming smaller towards the centre and at the same time turning 

 into stamens (fig. 3, 2). In the centre is the ovary or seed-box 

 bearing a shield-like sessile stigma. A transverse section of the 

 ovary (see fig. 3, 5) shows that it is composed of many leaves 

 called carpels, which are folded in towards the Horal axis and 

 thus form several cavities in which the seeds ripen. 



The flowers open after sunrise and are visited by insects which 

 are attracted by the colour. They, however, only find pollen, 

 as the plant secretes no honey. Towards evening the flower 

 closes again to protect the delicate stigma and the pollen from 

 damp and cold. 



4. The Fruit, a spongy berry (fig. 3, 4), ripens below the 

 surface of the water. When the seeds are ripe and leave the 

 berry, a small bu])ble of air under the slimy mantle (called aril) 

 that covers the seed, brings them to the surface, and the seeds 

 are carried wherever the wind and waves take them until the 

 bu])ble bursts. The seed being heavier than water sinks to the 

 bottom and begins to grow to form a new plant which may be 

 at some distance from the parent one. In this simple way the 

 Lotus plant is enabled to spread. 



