CHAPTER II. 



THE ACORN AND ITS GERMINATION THE SEEDLING. 



WHEN the acorns are falling in showers from the 

 oaks in October and November, everybody knows that 

 each of the polished leather-brown, long, egg-shaped 

 bodies tumbles out from a cup-like, scaly investment 

 which surrounded its lower third at the broader end. 

 Perhaps everybody would not be certain as to whether 

 the detached acorn is a seed or a fruit, so I anticipate 

 the difficulty by stating at the outset that the acorn is 

 the fruit of the oak, and contains the seed within its 

 brown shell ; and I propose to commence our studies by 

 examining an acorn, deferring the explanation of some 

 minute details of structure until we come to trace the 

 origin of the fruit and seed in the flower. 



The average size of the fruit is about 15 to 20 mm., 

 or nearly three quarters of an inch, long, by 8 to 10 

 mm., or nearly one third of an inch, broad at the middle 

 of its length ; the end inserted in the cup or cupule is 

 broad and nearly flat, and marked by a large circular 

 scar (Fig. 2, s) denoting the surface of attachment to 

 the cupule. This scar is rough, and exhibits a number 

 of small points which have resulted from the breaking 



