FIG. 
113 
An older plant shows us that the upper part of the 
stem straightens itself out and grows upward, bear- 
ing with it a pair of leaves (Fig. 121). 
From between these starts a tiny bud, that soon 
unfolds into a fresh leaf, which is carried upward by 
a new piece of stem. 
On the tip of this new piece of stem grows 
another bud, which also enlarges into a leaf, and in ce 
the same way as before is borne upward (Fig. 122). 
In this fashion the plant keeps growing big- 
ger and bigger. Soon branches start from the 
sides of the stem, and later flowers and fruits. 
So we see that it is the stem which bears all 
the other parts of the plant. 
Most people think that the plant springs 
from the root; but you children know better. 
as With your own eyes, here in the schoolroom, 
you have seen that instead of the stem growing 
from the root, the root grows from the stem. 
That more people have not found this out, 
is because they do not use their eyes rightly., 
Every spring hundreds and thousands of 
baby plants make their way out of the seed 
shell into the world, just as you saw the baby 
bean plant do, sending out first its little stem, 
HiGy 22 
which pointed downward into the earth and 
started a root. And every spring there are hundreds 
of thousands of men and women, and boys and girls, 
who go through the woods and fields, and across the 
parks and along the streets, as though they were blind, 
taking no notice of the wonders all about them. 
DANA’S PLANTS. — 8 
