PLANTS WITHOUT SEEDS 
*3 
from the air and water from the pond and with 
the help of the chlorophyll turn them into food 
that the plant can use in its growth. 
The pond scums provide for new plants in at 
least two ways. One is by dividing the cells as 
was mentioned before. Each division of the 
old cell is a new plant. It can go on starting 
new plants by this method so long as the 
weather is favorable, but when the pond freezes, 
the plants die. New plants are started the next 
spring by means of spores. A spore is a special 
cell which has dried up. It can live a long time 
without moisture or warmth. It doesn’t grow 
but just rests. When the good growing weather 
comes again, the spore is ready to start a new 
plant. In this way a spore is something like a 
seed, but it is not a seed. It is not formed in the 
same way, nor is it made of the same parts. 
The pond scums belong to a large family of 
plants known as the Algae (pronounced Arje). 
The other plants in the family are not all so 
small as these, but they are all very simple. The 
large brown seaweed is an alga. None of the 
