QUICKENING SEEDS AND SEEDLINGS 2J 



germination in general, it will repay us to learn the les- 

 son which they teach. 



Here in this single group we find the baby maples in 

 every condition of growth, from the bursting samara 

 standing on its head against the dry leaves, through all 

 stages of vegetation, to the tiny tree with a half-dozen 

 or more perfect leaves. A few of the infants still re- 

 tain their telltale winged caps, and are thus easily iden- 

 tified ; but the group contains a number of intermediate 

 forms between this and the leafy specimens which, but 

 for their company, would hardly be recognized. Here 

 in the foreground is a winged individual which has 

 matured its root and stem, and stands alone, getting 

 itself in position for a more ambitious spread above,, 

 while directly above it are two others which are throw- 

 ing off their swaddling-clothes. All of these are plainly 

 maples; but what of the three which keep them com- 

 pany on either side, and the flapping specimens which 

 wave their double green banners above them ? Farther 

 on we see a tiny pair of true maple leaves appearing 

 between these little flags ; and, farther still, the unmis- 

 takable foliage of young maple -trees. As we look at 

 the various forms we may very naturally ask with Gray 

 in his botanical lesson, " Was the plantlet formed in the 

 seed something as the chick is formed in the egg during 

 the process of incubation, or did it exist before in the 

 seed ready formed? To decide this question we have 

 only to inspect a sound seed, which in this instance re- 

 quires no microscope nor any other instrument than a 

 sharp knife. We find within the seed the little plant- 

 let already formed, and something else namely, a pair 

 of leaves [strap -shaped] borne on a stemlet, all snugly 

 coiled up within the protecting seed coat " 



