186 THE MORNING GLORY. 



that of the Apple (p. Ill), or the Pea (p. 118) ? It has albu- 

 men separate from the embryo, while in the Apple seed and 

 Pea there is no separate albumen, but the nutritive matter is 

 stored up in the massive cotyledons. Hence that important 

 distinction in seeds the albuminous, and exalbuminous. 



GERMINATION. In the Spring months you will find the 

 seeds of the Morning Glory germinating in almost every gar- 

 den. Our cuts show them in various stages. The seed has 

 absorbed water from the soil. The embryo and albumen are 

 softened ; the latter is sweetened, and so imbibed by the 

 growing radicle which soon protrudes and turns downward. 

 The cotyledons enlarge, burst the seed-coats, and spread sky- 

 ward as a pair of leaves (c, c). In the axis between them a 

 bud appears, grows, and in a few days its outer scales begin 

 to unfold in succession as a 3d, 4th, and 5th leaf, while the 

 axis extends into internodes between. Thus leaf after leaf, 

 in the order of a spiral line, is unfolded, while the axis with 

 its ever-growing bud at the summit still mounts higher. 



BRANCHES. By this process the one terminal bud is de- 

 veloped without limit into a plant with a simple stem. At 

 length other buds appear, one in the axil of each leaf. From 

 these axillary buds come the branches and flower-stalks. * 



A CLIMBER. The weakness of the Morning Glory vine is 

 compensated by its wonderful instinct. Unable of itself to 

 stand upright, it creeps toward the nearest support and 

 ascends by twining around it spirally. The direction of its 



* Carefully examined, the seed, or starting-point in the life of the plant, is com- 

 posed of a leaf, or leaves, closely packed, and altered in tissue and contents so as to 

 suit its new requirements. This is shown in the germination of a Bean or Morning 

 Glory, where the two seed-lobes (cotyledons) arise with the stem as leaves nourishing 

 the young plant. In the Pea they remain stationary at the base of the stem, yielding 

 their nourishment but never expanding. The bud, which, like the seed, is an epitome 

 of the plant, is also composed of leaf-rudiments closely folded, and protected from 

 Winter frosts by thick leathery scales, and evolving in Spring the stem, leaves, and 

 fruit in short, every structure which comes from the seed. 



