120 Field, Forest, and Wayside Flowers 



woody shell off an acorn, or strip the skin from 

 a bean, we find that the white substance which re- 

 mains splits naturally into halves. These are the 

 two first leaves of the young plant, so distended 

 by the nourishment stored within them that their 

 true character is not at once discernible. Folded 

 between them lie two more leaves, almost white 

 and very tiny, which will be unfolded to the light 

 as soon as the young plant gets its head fairly 

 above ground, and between these inner and younger 

 leaves is that portion of the plant which will carry 

 on the work of development the growing point. 



Sometimes, when the cotyledons are very large 

 and heavy, the tender stem of the seedling seems 

 unequal to the task of lifting them above ground. 

 This is the case with germinating acorns and 

 horse-chestnuts. 



The nut remains beneath the ground or on its 

 surface, and the first leaves which the seedling-oak 

 or horse-chestnut unfolds to the light correspond 

 to the first pair of soft, green leaves which appear 

 on the little bean-plant. 



The halves of the sprouting bean, which appear 

 above ground as two thick, oval seed-leaves, cor- 

 respond to the halves of the sprouting horse- 

 chestnut, which lie half buried beneath the soil. 



