CHAPTER FOUR 



HOW PLANTS GROW 



The wonder of growth ! There is more mystery in the 

 way one bean vine climbs its pole than in all the detective 

 stories ever printed. 



NEVIN WOODSIDE 



WITHIN a seed is a little plantlet. When the seed 

 germinates, this tiny plant breaks out of its case, sends 

 its root down into the earth, and pushes its stem and 

 leaves up to the air. Day by day it becomes larger, its 

 stem gets longer and thicker, new leaves appear, and 

 finally flowers and fruits are produced. 



Or a bud on the tuber of a plant like the Irish potato 

 or Jerusalem artichoke, or on the root of a sweet potato 

 may produce a new plant. At first the bud is very 

 small, but it increases in size until a full-grown plant 

 is formed. 



What happens inside a plant when it grows? How 



FIG. 28. "Tall oaks from little acorns grow." Other plants also have small 

 beginnings, all our garden plants coming from either tiny plantlets in seeds or 

 from buds on stems and roots. The illustration shows early stages in the growth 

 of the pea, Irish potato, and sweet potato. 



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