i6 



BEGIAWERS' BOTANY 



and air. The plant is anchored or fixed in the soil by the 

 roots. Plants have been called "earth parasites." 



The Foliage Part. — The leaves precede the flowers in 

 point of time or life of the plant. Tlie flowers always 

 precede the fruits and seeds. Many plants die when the 

 seeds have matured. The whole mass of leaves of any 



plant or any branch is 

 known as its foliage. 

 In some cases, as in 

 crocuses, the flowers 

 seem to precede the 

 leaves ; but the leaves 

 that made the food for 

 these flowers grew the 

 preceding year. 



The Plant Generation. 

 — The course of a 

 plant's life, with all the 

 events through which 

 the plant naturally 

 passes, is known as 

 the plant's life-history. 

 The life-history em- 

 braces various stages, 

 or epochs, as dormant 

 ination, growth, flowering, fruiting. Some plants 

 run their course in a few weeks or months, and some live 

 for centuries. 



The entire life-period of a plant is called a generation. 

 It is the whole period from birth to normal death, without 

 reference to the various stages or events through which it 

 passes. 



A generation begins with the young seed, not with germi- 



FiG. II. — Plant of a 

 Wild Sunflower. 



seed, genu 



Fig. 12. — Frame- 

 work OF Fig. II. 



