i6 



PLANT BIOLOGY 



. * 



and air. The plant is anchored or fixed in the soil by the 



roots. Plants have been called "earth parasites." 



The Foliage Part. — The leaves precede the flowers in 



point of time or life of the plant. The flowers always 



precede the fruits and seeds. Many plants die when the 



seeds have matured. The whole mass of leaves of any 



plant or any branch is 



known as its foliage. 



In some cases, as in 



crocuses, the flowers 



seem to precede the 



leaves ; but the leaves 



that made the food for 



these flowers grew the 



preceding year. 



The Plant Generation. 



— The course of a 



plant's life, with all the 



events through which 



the plant naturally 



passes, is known as 



the plant's life-history. 



The life-history em- 



Fig. ii. — Plant of a Fig. 12. — Frame- braces various Stages, 

 Wild Sunflower. work of Fig. ii. 



or epochs, as dormant 



seed, germination, growth, flowering, fruiting. Some plants 



run their course in a few weeks or months, and some live 



for centuries. 



The entire life-period of a plant is called a generation. 

 It is the whole period from birth to normal death, without 

 reference to the various stages or events through which it 

 passes. 



A generation begins with the young seed, not with germi- 



