18 



HOW PLANTS GROW FROM THE SEED. 



41. The seed-leaves of the Bean are thickened by having so much nourishment 



stored up in them, so mucli of it that they make good food for men. And the 



object of tliis large supply is that the plant may grow more strongly and rapidly 



from the seed. It need not and it does not wait, as 

 the Maple and the Morning-Glory do, slowly to make 

 the second pair of leaves ; but is able to develop 

 these at once. Accordingly, the rudiments of these 

 next leaves may be seen in the seed before growth 

 begins, in the form of a little bud (Fig. 33, p), ready 

 to grow and unfold as soon as the thick seed-leaves 

 themselves appear above ground (Fig. 34), and soon 

 making the first real foliage (Fig. 35). For the 

 seed-leaves of the Bean are themselves so thick and 

 ungainly, that, although they turn green, they hardly 

 serve for foliage. But, having given up their great 

 stock of nourishment to the forming root and new 

 leaves, and enabled these to grow much stronger and 

 faster than they otherwise could, they wither and fall 

 off. It is nearly the same in 



42. The Cherry, Almond, &c. Fig.. 36 is an Almond 

 taken out of the shell, soaked a little, and the thin 

 seed-coat removed. The whole 

 is an embryo, consisting of a 

 pair of large and thick seed- 

 leaves, loaded with sweet nour- 

 ishment. These are borne on a 



very short radicle, or stemlet, which is seen at the lower end. 



Pull off" one of the seed-leaves, as in Fig. 37, and you may 



see the plumule or little bud, 



p, ready to develop leaves 



and stem upwards, while the 



other end of the radicle 



grows downward and makes 



the root ; the rich store of 



nourishment in the seed- 



