ao 



How PLANTS (}H()W VIU)M TIIK SFA-.D. 



III! 



out of iho Hoo«l, an«l lot th»> rmit form from tlio lowor otxl of it, \vliih» tin* pliiinulo 

 develops from its iippn- ruil tliirdly into a sti'on^' l«'nfy .st«'m. Fi;;. 40 is iiii lu-orn 

 cut thron^;)) Inij^tliwisf. 'I'lio wlmlo kt-riu'I consists of m pair of v(«rv thick sc»m|. 

 loavcH, loaded n\ itii starch, »Vc.. aii<l completely j'liclosin;; the Ncrv small ami shrirt 

 Ktcndct, or radicle, seen at the liottom. Ki<,'. .\i is the acorn with the H-edliti;^ 

 Oak ;,'ro\vin;; fiom it ; the seed leaves remaining' in the shell, hut feeding' thestr«)n^ 

 root which ^'rows downwartis and the stem which shoots so vi;^'oronsly upwards. 

 44. Acorns and horse-cliestniits may not always he foiuid p'rn>inatin<; ; hut in 

 tlut l*eu we have a faiiiiliir ca e of this way of j;rowin«;, which may Im< oliserved 

 ftt any season hy planting; a few j»eas V']^. .\2 is a pea with the seed-coat taken 

 off, after soakiti^'. Here the seed-leaves are sotjiick that t he |)air makes a littlo 

 ball; and the stout radicle or stemlct appears on the side tiii'iu'd to the eye. 

 Fi;ij. 4,^ shows the plantlct jLfrowin^'. The whole seed remains in the soil ; the 

 plumuh>, w« II nourished hy the ;,M'eat stock of food in tin* huried seed- leaves, alono 

 rises out of the /ground as a strong' shoot, hoariuifan impei'fect scale-like leaf upon 

 each of its earlier joints, an<l then j)ro<lucin^' the real leaves of the plant, while tho 

 radicle at the same time, without len;;thenin^' itself, sends down thi'e(» or four roots 

 nt onc(!. So the whole plant is (piickly estalilished, and all the early ^'rowth is 

 made out of food providctl for it the year before by th(^ nu)tlier-plant, and stored 

 up in the seed. One more illustration we may t.ike from 



45- Indian Corp. iicro the 



food provided tor the early 

 growth is laid uji partly in the 

 embrvo, but mostlv around it. 

 • Fi^'. 44 is a ^'rain cut through 

 flatwise; Fij;. 45, another cut 

 through the middle across its 

 thickness; and Fiuf. 46, theembi-yo, or fjerm, of another ^raiu, taken out 

 whole — which may readily l>e done in green corn, or in an old grain 

 after soaking it for some time in warm watei". The separate euibr\o is 

 placed to nuitch that which is seen, divided, i." t}u»sce<l ; /is theiadicle; 

 j>, the plumule ; and c, the seed-leaf or cotylecion, which in this plant is 

 single; while in all the foregoing there was a pair of seed-leaves. The 

 greater part of the grain is the meal, or albumen, the stock of nourish- 

 ment outside of c he embryo. In germinating, this meal is slowly changed 



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