30 
PLANTS. 
reach of the usual effects of frost That is to say, 
in the autumn nothing is done above ground but 
the business of impregnation ; which is an affair 
between the antherae and the stigmata, and is pro- 
bably soon over. The maturation of the impreg- 
nated seed, which in no other plants proceeds 
within a capsule, exposed together with the rest of 
the flower to the open air, is here carried on, and 
during the whole winter, within the heart, as we 
may say, of the earth, that is, f out of the reach of 
the usual effects of frost.’ But then a new difficulty 
presents itself. Seeds, though perfected, are known 
not to vegetate at this depth in the earth. Our 
seeds therefore, though so safely lodged, would after 
all be lost to the purpose for which all seeds are in- 
tended. Lest this should be the case, f a second 
admirable provision is made to raise them above 
the surface when they are perfected, and to sow 
them at a proper distance viz. the germ grows up 
in the spring , upon a fruit-stalk, accompanied with 
leaves. The seeds now, in common with those of 
other plants, have the benefit of the summer, and 
are sown upon the surface. The order of vegeta- 
tion externally is this : the plant produces its flow- 
ers in September; its leaves and fruits in the spring 
following.” 
In the third place, those which are too weak to 
support their own weight, are provided with ten- 
drils, by which they are enabled either to form an 
* With. Bot. Jrr. vol. i. p. 360, 2ded. 
