120 Field, Forest, and Wayside Flowers 
woody shell off an acorn, or strip the skin from 
a bean, we find that the white substance which re- 
mains splits naturally into halves. These are the 
two first leaves of the young plant, so distended 
by the nourishment stored within them that their 
true character is not at once discernible. Folded 
between them lie two more leaves, almost white 
and very tiny, which will be unfolded to the light 
as soon as the young plant gets its head fairly 
above ground, and between these inner and younger 
leaves is that portion of the plant which will carry 
on the work of development—the growing point. 
Sometimes, when the cotyledons are very large 
and heavy, the tender stem of the seedling seems 
unequal to the task of lifting them above ground. 
This is the case with germinating acorns and 
horse-chestnuts. 
The nut remains beneath the ground or on its 
surface, and the first leaves which the seedling-oak 
or horse-chestnut unfolds to the light correspond 
to the first pair of soft, green leaves which appear 
on the little bean-plant. 
The halves of the sprouting bean, which appear 
above ground as two thick, oval seed-leaves, cor- 
respond to the halves of the sprouting horse- 
chestnut, which lie half buried beneath the soil. 
