IPOMCEA. 185 



the life and growth, i. e., the fertilization of the seed. If 

 the stigma be covered or destroyed so as to prevent the action 

 of the pollen, no seed will be perfected in the ovary and no 

 fruit produced. Or if the stigma remain good and yet no 

 pollen be lodged upon it, the fruit is equally sure to fail. 

 Therefore the nectar secreted in the nectaries of the flower, 

 and the insect that comes to gather it while unconsciously 

 scattering the pollen, are both necessary links in the Creator's 

 plan. Thus the flower is not merely a thing of beauty. It 

 is an apparatus for a specific work in which each organ per- 

 forms a definite part. That work is the production of living 

 seed for the perpetuation of its kind upon the earth. 



The Fruit. After the corolla with the stamens has fallen, 

 the calyx folds itself closely on the ovary and covers it while 

 both continue to grow. At maturity the calyx again spreads 

 and discloses a dry, round pod a capsule, of curious and 

 beautiful structure. It appears 3-carpelled and 3-celled, as 

 predicted by the 3-lobed stigma. The 3 valves separate at 

 the lines of their juncture with the partitions (a septifragal 

 dehiscence), leaving the latter persistent, entire. 



Seeds. We find in each cell 2 seeds, the perfected work 

 of the flower. Their structure may be observed by tearing 

 one open just before it becomes hardened, or by sections cut 

 in various directions. Here is a pair of oddly shaped, green- 

 ish leaves joined to a short stem, folded and packed with a 

 gelatinous substance. It is the embryo, or young plant, and 

 its nourishing albumen* How does this seed differ from 



* The question of a seed's vitality is interesting, at least to the gardener. He accepts 

 all kinds as good for a year, and, as a rule, rejects such as are known to be older. 

 There are, however, many kinds of seeds which are long-lived. The seeds of Maize 

 and Eye have been known to grow after 30 or 40 years old ; Kidney Beans when 100, 

 and the Raspberry (according to Lindley) after 1700 years. It is often observed that 

 when, from deep excavations, earths are first brought to the surface, they are soon 

 covered with strange plants, probably from seeds long buried. After the " Great Fire 

 in London," the Hedge Mustard (Sisymbrium), previously unknown in that locality, 

 sprang up thickly amid the blackened ruins. 



