CHAPTER XXIX 



REPRODUCTION 



Reproduction and nutrition. By means of roots, 

 stems, and leaves, as we have just learned, plants arc 

 able to carry on certain processes by which they live. 

 These processes of nutrition are necessary for the life 

 of any individual plant. It is also essential, however, 

 for new and younger plants to be produced ; otherwise 

 each particular kind (species) of plant would cease to 

 exist on earth. This function of producing new plants 

 is known as reproduction (to produce again). There 

 are a number of methods by Avhich new plants may 

 arise from old ones. It is possible to take cuttings 

 of willow, or geranium, or grape, plant them, and 

 have them grow into new plants. In all the higher, 

 so-called seed or flowering plants, seeds are used for 

 the production of new plants. For the formation of 

 seeds plants bear special structures, the flowers. 



Flowers. Most of the plants, with w r hich you arc 

 familiar, periodically produce highly colored structures 

 which are called flowers. The size, shape, color, and 

 even the structure of flowers of different plants vary 

 greatly. In any simple flower, such as the trillium, 

 the violet, or the geranium, four parts are always present. 



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