280 FIRST YEAR COURSE IN GENERAL SCIENCE 



318. The Result of Germination. The embryo bursts 

 open the seed coats, and as the seed-leaves absorb moisture 

 from the soil, a chemical change takes place in the starch and 

 proteid stored in the seed-leaves. They become soluble 

 and furnish food and energy for the young plant to live on 

 until it has a root capable of taking water from the ground, 

 and leaves to take carbon dioxide from the air. When it 

 can make its own food in this way, the seedling has become 

 "self-supporting." In time it will become a mature plant 



--d 



FIG. 148. BEAN, PEA, AND CORN SEEDLINGS 



1. Give the name of the organ designated by each letter in the picture 

 of the bean. 2. What difference is there in the position of the correspond- 

 ing organs in the pea? 3. What differences are there between the corn 

 seedling and both of the others? 4. What peculiarity of the corn seedling 

 is explained by the fact that from 10 to 20 tons of water are required to 

 raise a bushel of corn? 



having flowers, fruit, and seed of its own. Thus the family 

 of bean plants is continued by the process of reproduction. 

 319. Flowerless Plants. There are some plants which 

 do not have flowers containing reproductive organs. In 

 such plants the function of reproduction is accomplished in 

 one of two ways. In some of the simplest microscopic forms 



