160 THE NATURE AND WORK OF PLANTS 



This is the young plantlet. There was 

 originally an egg apparatus under each 

 eye, but two of them have not been 

 given an opportunity for development, 

 and the whole ovary is devoted to the 

 nourishment and protection of one em- 

 bryo. Rarely two embryos are per- 

 fected in one fruit, making twin trees 

 when they germinate. Make a drawing 

 of the embryo. 



V. Germination. 



Carefully cut away one side of the germinated 

 fruit, being careful not to injure the young 

 plant, and note : — 

 a. The absorbing organ, the inner end of the 

 embryo, which is made of the cotyledon, 

 has developed a mass of tissue, very 

 much the shape of a puff-ball, which is 

 at first the size of a marble, but which 

 gradually enlarges until it fills the cav- 

 ity of the nut. It uses the milk for 

 food as it grows, and furthermore it 

 secretes digestive fluids (enzyms), which 

 dissolve the starch and oil in the endo- 



