SEED-BEARING PLANTS 445 
If one digs up a bulb in the fall, he will find the flower 
perfectly formed, and ready to be raised above the ground 
the following spring. All the parts of the flower, at this 
period, are white, on account of having been formed in 
entire darkness; and they are also quite brittle. 
When the buds resume their growth the second spring 
they push up through the ground quickly, and with con- 
siderable force. The pointed end of the sprout is covered 
by a mass of hard tissue, which protects the more delicate 
cells below from injury. The- well-protected tip, and the 
growth-force, enable the sprout to pierce even small 
twigs. This has given rise to the striking name of "vege- 
table awl." 
As soon as the sprout is well above the surface of the 
ground the flower bud becomes free from the parts that 
enclose it, and expands into the nodding blossom ; pollina- 
tion is accomplished, and the life-cycle begins again. 
The life cycle of another angiosperm, the water-plantain 
(Alisma Plantago-aquatica) , is indicated in Fig. 329. 
