130 



SEED. 



The RadickjOr descending part, which 

 unfolds itself into roots. At Fig. 86 ap- 

 pears the embryo in a germinating state; 

 a represents the radicle, b the plume, c 

 the cord by which the plant is still con- 

 nected to the cotyledons, and receives 

 from them its nourishment. 



To use the words of an ancient bota- 

 nist, " the embryo continues imprisoned 

 within its seed, and remains in a profound 

 sleep, until awakened by germination; 

 it meets the light and air to grow into a 

 plant, similar to its parent. 



u Lo ! on each seed, within its slender rind, 

 Life's golden threads in endless circles wind : 

 Maze within maze the lurid webs are roll'd, 

 And as they burst, the living flame unfold. 

 The pulpy acom, ere it swells, contains 

 The oak's vast branches in its milky veins, 

 Each ravel'd bud, fine film, and fibre-line, 

 Traced with nice pencil on the small design. 

 The young Narcissus, in its bulb compressed, 

 Cradles a second nestling on its breast ; 

 In whose fine arms a younger embryo lies, 

 Folds its thin leaves, and shuts its floret-eyes; 

 Grain within grain successive harvests dwell, 

 And boundless forests slumber in a shell."* 



There are various appendages which may, or may not be 

 present without injury to the structure of the seed. 



Aigrette, or egret , sometimes called pappus, is a kind qf fea- 

 thery crown with which many of the compound flowers are 

 furnished, evidently for the purpose of disseminating the seed 

 to a considerable distance by means of winds ; as the dande- 

 lion. It includes all that remains on the top of the seed after 

 the corolla is removed. 



Stipe is a thread connecting the egret with the seed. The 

 egret is said to be sessile when it has no stipe, simple when it 

 consists of a bundle of hairs without branches, plumose when 

 each hair has other little hairs arranged along its sides, like 



* These lines, which so beautifully set forth the manner in which the embryo 

 is contained within the seed or bulb, are not entirely philosophical as to the 

 fact of the future generations lying enfolded, the one within the other; it is 

 true, that we may in many seeds, by the help of a microscope, discern the form 

 of the future plant, and even the embryo flower ; but we cannot believe that, 

 in the seed of that embryo flower, is the miniature image of another plant, which 

 contains another, and so on through successive generations ; for the fact is 

 established that a seed does not produce a plant without being fertilized by the 

 pollen. We may say that a seed contains within itself the elements of future 

 generations ; but not their images, except that of the immediate plant which is 

 to issue from the perfected seed. 



Appendages to seeds Egret Stipe. 



