Seeds and their Germination 



II 



safely up, \Yatch the outer leaf split open and the next 

 leaf unroll. 



The calabas seed has by this time backed out of bed. 

 Here the stem grows faster than the leaves. It makes a loop 

 above ground, and as it gradually lengthens it pulls out the 

 leaves. A little thought will show that this is the better way 

 for the calabas or pumpkin, as the leaves are not rolled, and 

 would have hard work to push up through the soil. 



Now pull up some of the 

 pumpkin seeds to see what 

 has been happening below. 

 The point at the lower end 

 of the cotyledons has grown 

 out to form a small root. 

 The seed-coat has split open, 



and there is a little peg where the root is coming out. Plants 

 a day or two older will show that the arching stem is splitting 

 the seed-coat, and that the peg is holding the lower edge 

 firmly in the soil. How did the peg come to be just there ? 

 There is nothing like it on the other side, where it would 



-£}i 



Fig. 15.— The Calabas backs out of bed. 



Fig. 16. — The peg is spreading open the seed-coats. 



be of no use. What if the seed had been planted with the 

 other side down? 



Let us find out by planting more, taking pains this time to 

 plant them flat. The pointed end, toward which the radicle 

 always points, is a little one-sided. The point is not quite 

 in the centre, and the micropyle is beside it. AVe can place 

 the seeds in one row with the point at the right, and those in 

 another row with the point at the left. 



