200 BOTANY. 



ing deposited on the style, renders the seed produc- 

 tive. 



The pistil is cylindrical, and surmounted by the 

 style, the top of which is generally round and pro- 

 tuberant. It is connected with a vessel containing 

 the rudiments of the seed. 



No flowers have been discovered that have eleven 

 stamina. 



Seeds. 



In every seed there is to be distinguished : 



1. The organ of nourishment. 



2. The nascent plant or plume. 



3. The nascent root or radicle. 



In the common garden bean, the organ of nourish- 

 ment is divided into two lobes, called cotyledons. 

 The plume is a small white point between the upper 

 part of the lobes ; the radicle is the small curved 

 cone at the base. 



Seeds are incapable of germinating, except when 

 oxygen is present. 



Dormant Seeds. 



Crops of white clover spring up in appearance 

 spontaneously, on the application of lime to dry 

 heaths and barren soils ; and raspberry-bushes start 

 up where fir-woods have been burned down, though 

 not a vestige of either could previously be discovered 

 on the spot. 



Elements. 



Three elements, oxygen, hydrogen, and carbon, 

 constitute the greatest part of the organized matter 

 of vegetables. 



The most common and important products of ve- 

 getables, such as starch, mucilage, sugar, and woody 

 fibre, are composed of water, or its elements, in their 

 due proportion, and charcoal. 



