CHAPTER V 
GERMINATION OF SEEDS 
42. Introductory.—In the preceding chapters the struc- 
ture and the work of the three great nutritive organs (leaf, 
stem, and root) of the higher plants were considered. In 
studying the germination of seeds, these organs may be 
observed assuming their various positions and relations, and 
the student may be introduced to certain important facts. 
Tic. 81.—Section of bean; removing one cotyledon, and showing the testa, the 
remaining cotyledon, the hypocotyl (its tip in position to emerge), and the 
plumule. 
Perhaps the most common seed used in class study of seed 
germination is the garden bean, although other seeds should 
be germinated in the laboratory, and, when possible, studies 
of germination should be extended beyond the laboratory. 
43. General structure of the seed.—It is very common 
to study even the surface of the seed in great detail, but 
84 ; 
