50 THE BEGINNER'S GARDEN BOOK 



shows it to have two tiny leaves at one end. Any one who 

 has examined a peanut remembers the two similar leaves, 

 very small and wrinkled. These leaves are called the plu- 

 mule, or little plume ; while the other end, round and worm- 

 like, is called the caulicle, or little stem. The plumule is to 

 form the first leaves of the plant, the cau- 

 licle both the stem and the root. 



Examination of the pea shows the same 

 parts. There are the plump cotyledons, 

 the plumule, and the caulicle. 



The corn seed is different. In the first 

 place, we cannot find two cotyledons, and 

 as we look we discover that the two sides 

 of the seed differ from each other. If we 

 scratch or cut with a knife at the unsoaked 



<rfa kernel of corn!" see d, we ^d tnat one s ^e, which is of an 

 amber color and which lets the light 

 through, is very hard. But on the other side, embedded in 

 this hard mass, is a part through which the light does not 

 pass. If we cut into it, we find that it is soft ; and as we cut 

 it lengthwise, we come upon the plumule and the caulicle 

 (often called radicle), pointing away from each other. 



We decide that the corn is different from the other seeds, 

 because it has but one cotyledon. It represents, however, 

 a large class of plants, such as the grasses, lilies, and palms, 

 whose seeds have the same structure. 



If the soaked seeds have got to the point of sprouting, 

 all these parts may readily be seen. The caulicle thrusts 

 out, the cotyledons separate, the plumule pushes upward. 

 Placed in earth, the seed speedily becomes a plant. But 

 first, what is necessary for successful sprouting, or, as it is 

 called, germination? 



In the first place the seeds need moisture. The more 



