HOW PLANTS GROW YEAR AFTER YEAR. 
23 
then dissolved, turned, into sugar, &c., and feeds the plantlet. 35. This illustrated in Wheat and 
Indian Corn. 36. Or else the same nourishment is deposited in the embryo itself, in its seed-leaves; 
illustrated by the Maple. 37, 88. Variations of the same plan of growth in different plants. The 
Maple compared with the Morning-Glory. 39 - 45. A great abundance of food stored up in the embryo 
causes a rapid and strong growth ; illustrated by the Bean ; 42. by the Cherry, Almond, & c. ; 43, 44. by 
the Horsechestnut, Acorn, Pea, &c. ; in these the seed-leaves do not come up in germinating; why. 
45. In Indian Corn; the stock of food partly in the strong embryo, partly outside of it. 46. The 
Onion; its seed-leaf lengthens and comes up, but the stem never lengthens at all. 
47. Number of cotyledons or seed-leaves in different kinds of plants ; Monocotyledonous. 48. Dico- 
tyledonous ; Polycotyledonous. 50. These differences always accompany other differences in the 
plant; Monocotyledonous, Dicotyledonous, and Polycotyledonous Plants. 
Section III. — How Plants grow Year after Year. 
51. They Grow Oil as they Began, The seedling has all the organs that any plant 
has, — even the largest and oldest, — excepting what belongs to blossoms : it has 
all it needs for its life and growth, that is, for vegetation. It has only to go on and 
produce more of what it already has, — more roots beneath to draw up more 
moisture from the soil, and more stem above, bearing more leaves, exposing a 
larger surface to the light and air, in which to digest what is taken in from the soil 
and the air, and turn it into real nourishment, that is, into the stuff which vege- 
tables are made of. So, as fast as a young plant makes new vegetable material, it 
uses it for its growth ; it adds to its root below, and to its stem above, and unfolds 
a new leaf or pair of leaves on every joint. Each joint of stem soon gets its full 
length, and its leaf or pair of leaves the full size ; and now, instead of growing, 
they work, or prepare nourishment, for the growth of the younger parts forming 
above. 
52. Simple Stems. In this way, piece by piece, the stem is carried up higher 
and higher, and its leaves increased in number ; and the more it grows, the more it 
is able to grow, — as we see in a young seedling, beginning feebly and growing 
slowly for a while, but pushing on more and more vigorously in proportion to the 
number of leaves and roots it has produced. In this way, by developing joint after 
joint, each from the summit of its predecessor, a Simple Stem- is made. Many 
plants make only simple stems, at least until they blossom, or for the first year. 
The Lilies, figured on the first page, and corn-stalks, are of this kind. Fig. 51 is 
a sort of diagram of the simple stem of Indian Corn, divided into its component 
pieces, to show how it consists of a set of similar growths, each from the summit 
