GERMIN 7 ATION. 11 



many palms and may be studied in the date 

 and the cocoa-nut. The case of the date palm is 

 interesting owing to the manner in which the 

 cotyledon performs its functions. It remains 

 attached to the food supply and absorbs it, as 

 in the case of the onion just described, but, 

 owing to the manner in which it elongates, it 

 carries with it, concealed in its free extremity, 

 the rest of the embryo of the seed. By this 

 means the young plant is thrust deep down 

 into the soil on which the seed is germinating 

 and carried to a considerable depth before there 

 is any appearance of either . roots or leaves. 

 The w.hole of the work up to this stage is per- 

 formed at the expense of the food supply con- 

 tained in the seed ; germination takes place 

 very slowly and the germinating seed is inde- 

 pendent of any supply of food from the soil, 

 with the exception of a little moisture. The 

 food supply in this instance consists of the 

 hard horny albumen which is very slowly 

 absorbed. It will be recognised how this 

 method of germination is suited to a plant 

 which usually lives in desert regions where 

 the water supply is scanty. By making the 

 young plant independent of food from the soil 

 until it has been buried to a sufficient depth 

 to obtain a supply of moisture for itself the 

 chances of successful growth, under difficult 



