NATURE STUDY MADE EASY 



55 



LESSON XVIII 



LIFE HISTORY OF AN OAK 



In the autumn, when the leaves begin to fall from the oaks, the 

 little acorns fall too. They nestle in the grass, or roll down into a 

 furrow, or strike on the soft ground under the tree. 

 The rains beat on them, and some of the acorns are 

 partly buried in the ground. If they are not eaten 

 by insects, or carried away by squirrels, they sink 

 deeper and deeper, and rest under the soil. 



In the first warm days of spring the little acorn 

 begins to swell. Then it bursts its coat and begins to 

 sprout. Up shoot the two tiny seed leaves into the 

 air, and down goes the baby rootlet into the soil. 

 During the first few years the tiny oak makes little 

 growth. A few leaves appear on a slender stem. 



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Now it is an oak sapling. Each year it grows only 

 about a foot, but it is busy making root, trunk, 

 branches, and leaves. The bark on the trunk is smooth at first. 

 As the sapling gets older and the wood grows outward, the bark 

 cracks with the strain, and long fissures are made in it. 



It is many years before the oak produces a flower. These ap- 

 pear before the leaves in early spring and are called " oak-catkins/' 

 Have you noticed the long, slender, graceful clusters hanging on 

 the branches of a tall oak ? These are the staminate flowers. They 



OAK 



SEEDLING 



