SEEDS 



65 



Fig. 20. 



- A pod of milkweed with the winged seeds 

 escaping. — After Hunter. 



begins with that joining together of portions of its par- 

 ents which occurs in the very heart of the flower, hidden 

 from the naked eye. 

 After that joining 

 together, the seed 

 begins to develop 

 around the embryo, 

 and the fruit begins 

 to develop around 

 the seeds. A supply 

 of food is deposited 

 around the embryo 

 ready to be used up 

 by it as it grows. 

 Even while it re- 

 mains in the seed, 

 and even while the seeds remain in the fruit, and even 

 while the fruit remains in the flower, the embryo grows. 

 After it has reached a certain size, it may stop growing 

 for a long time. You know that seeds may 

 be kept a long time and still be good for 

 sprouting. But when the seed does begin 

 to sprout, there is the little plant within 

 it, quite large enough to be seen with the 

 naked eye, and ready to develop rapidly 

 the parts which will enable it to make its 

 own food and begin an independent exist- 

 ence. (See Figure 21.) 



Open a seed to see. A bean or a pea- 

 nut kernel will do. Within the protecting 

 coats you find an oval body which separates easily length- 

 wise into halves. These halves are parts of the embryo 



Fig. 21. — Diagram 

 of a seed of vio- 

 let. The embryo 

 lies in the center 

 of its food sup- 

 ply. 



