CHAPTER V 



THE SEED AND ITS GERMINATION 



1. So far we have been studying the outlines of 

 the vegetative life and work of plants, but, as we 

 have learnt, there is another work, that of REPRODUC- 

 TION, which is just as important, if not more so. 



All flowering plants reproduce, in a normal way, by 

 seeds formed inside a special organ which may even- 

 tually become a hollow pod, or a soft and juicy fruit. 



This organ is called the ovary, and is a part, the 

 innermost or central organ, of the flower. 



Now take a nearly ripe pod of the common Lablab 

 or of the Pea. In general shape it is a narrow oblong, 

 pointed at each end, and curved at one side. Along the 

 outer edge, the convex side, there runs a narrow ridge, 

 and along the inner or concave side another, but thicker 

 raised ridge which is double. These ridges are called 

 the sutures. That on the convex side being the 

 dorsal, that on the concave side the ventral suture. 

 At one end there is a short round stalk which was 

 the stalk of the flower by the development of one 

 part of which the pod has been formed. At the junc- 

 tion of the pod and its stalk is a raised ring which 

 represents the base of the flower, all the rest of which 



