320 TYPICAL FLOWERING PLANTS 



235. History of the Corn Plant. — The corn plant was 

 found growing in America when the New World was 

 discovered, and it was one of the principal foods of the 

 Indians. Now corn is grown wherever the climate is not 

 too cold for it to come to maturity. 



236. Economic Importance of Plants. — From a biological 

 point of view much of the study of plants is concerned with 

 the life of the plant itself, considered as an organism; 

 what its problems are, and what peculiarities it has devel- 

 oped which have aided it in the struggle for existence. 

 There is, however, another point of view, — the importance 

 of plants to man as the source of his food supply. Within 

 recent years, this has come to be more fully recognized 

 than ever before, and as a result, agriculture as an industry 

 has been almost revolutionized by the application of scien- 

 tific methods. 



Man has learned to take a wild plant and, by cultivation, 

 selection, and cross-pollination, to improve any part of the 

 plant he wishes. Man is the only animal intelligent enough 

 to do this, and his success depends upon his following such 

 natural laws as he has been able to discover. Students are 

 constantly endeavoring to learn the conditions under 

 which each plant thrives best, — the kind of food, soil- 

 temperature, amount and kind of cultivation; what dis- 

 eases it is likely to have, and how to prevent and cure 

 them. 



SUMMARY OF THE BEAN 



The bean is a typical flowering plant and is represent- 

 ative of the dicotyledons. The bean seed contains an 

 embryo which is nourished by the food in the cotyledons. 

 A bean plant has roots to hold it firmly in place and to 

 gather the water which contains part of the plant's food. 

 It has a stem to hold the leaves to the light and air, and 



