IV 

 THE PLANT AS A PARENT 



TPIE first duty of the individual, and one even 

 more important than the preservation of its own 

 life, is the perpetuation of the race. It is easy to 

 think of the care which the animal bestows on 

 its offspring, the food and protection which the 

 parent provides, the fostering of the new genera- 

 tion for its advent into a world of strife. We 

 are not so prone to regard the plant as a parent, 

 responsible for the reproduction and outfitting 

 of its kind. Yet the members of the vegetable 

 kingdom take many extraordinary precautions to 

 ensure the well-being of their progeny, and the 

 study of these forms a very fascinating chapter 

 in the book of Nature. 



In the present instance it is not proposed to 

 enter into the wonders of the floral marriage, but 

 to presume that the ovary has received the touch 

 necessary for its development, and that the seed 



is an accomplished fact. Now a seed has never, 



50 



