20 INTRODUCTION. [16. 



38. The next stage is the production of fruit, in 

 which flowering is the first step ; the showy parts of 

 the flower soon wither and fall away ; the pistil, hav- 

 ing been fertilized, is left, and continues to grow and 

 finally matures into the ripe Fruit (Figs. /, J). 



We found the plant slumbering in the Seed ; we 

 have followed and watched its behavior through all 

 the stages of its Life. 



39. We have seen the seed placed in the damp 

 soil, where it absorbed moisture, enlarged, ruptured its 

 shell, sent forth a sprout, which began to increase in 

 two directions, one part enlarged downwards into the 

 earth and formed a root; the other part grew upwards 

 and became a stem. The stem clothed itself with 

 leaves, sent forth branches, and adorned itself with 

 flowers. These several achievements were succeeded 

 by the crowning act of vegetable life, the production of 

 mature seed in which a new Plant reposes, in embryo. 



CHAPTER IV. 



TERM OR PERIOD OF PLANT LIFE. 



40. Flowering and fruit-bearing is an exhausting 

 process. If it occur within the first or second year of 

 the life of the plant, it generally proves fatal. In all 

 other cases, it is either immediately preceded or fol- 

 lowed by a state of repose. Now, if flowering be pre- 

 vented by nipping the buds, the tender annual may 

 become perennial, as in the florist's Tree-mignonette. 

 We distinguish plants, as to their term of life, into 

 the annual (CD), the biennial (), and the perennial 

 ( 2f ). An annual ( (D ) herb is a plant whose en- 



