PHYTONS. 



139 



whole ; so that the term individual plant is justly applied to the ag- 

 gregate stem and branches while they remain united, but no longer. 



230. PhytOIiS, The analysis of the Phsenogamous plant must be 

 carried still further : for a branch, or the simple primary stem it- 

 self, is composed of a lineal succession of similar parts, developed 

 one upon the summit of another, each produced by the preceding, 

 and producing that which in turn surmounts it (143) ; that is, it 

 consists of a series of individual plantlets or plant-elements, which 

 by their repetition make up the vegetable body. The first of 

 these preexists in the seed, as the embryo, 



or initial plantlet (Fig. 105) : the down- 

 ward growth from its lower extremity 

 forms the root (Fig. 107), while from, 

 above it gives birth to all the rest, in lin- 

 eal succession. A name being needful by 

 which to designate this potential plant, the 

 repetition of which makes up the perfect 

 vegetable, that of PHYTON (from the 

 Greek </>vroi/, a plant) has been adopted 

 for the purpose. 



231. The dicotyledonous embryo (Fig. 

 100, 105) is a double organ, or consists of 

 two simple phytons, with their stem-por- 

 tions united side by side to form the radi- 

 cle, but each with its own leaf or cotyle- 

 don. The monocotyledonous embryo is 

 equivalent to half the dicotyledonous, and 

 therefore exhibits the simplest case. It 

 developes one primary phyton in germi- 

 nation (Fig. 168, a), this a second (Z>), 

 this a third (c), and so on ; each like the 

 preceding, only successively larger and 

 more vigorous as the plant thus multiplies 

 its organs ; except that the primary one 

 alone grows downwards into a root in the 

 first instance. But the others mingle their 

 woody tissues with those of the older phy- 

 tons beneath, and thus draw up their portion of the liquid which 



FIG. 168. Diagram to illustrate the development of a Monocotyledonous plant, by super- 

 posed phytons; a- g, the successive phytons, beginning with the first. 



