230 
THE SEED AND THE SEEDLING 
of the water to shut out air. Set aside and examine from 
time to time. Do the seeds sprout? Why? 
Describe all the experiments above, making sketches of all 
the apparatus used. 
Plant a seedling in damp sawdust with its plumule up and 
its roots down. Plant another beside it in any other position. 
After a day or two examine them all. What direction does 
the root always tend to take? the plumule? 
Place a seedling in a jar before a window. What direction 
does it take? Turn it around. What happens after a 
few hours? Try the same experiment with an older plant. 
Which turns more quickly? Describe these experiments 
and invent others to show the same thing. 
SUMMARY 
The seed contains a new plant and food for its early life. 
The hypocotyl is the part of the plant (embryo) that helps 
it to get out of the ground. Growth of a seed depends on 
air, warmth, moisture, and on the food stored up in the 
cotyledons. Man uses the seeds for food because they con¬ 
tain starch, sugar, protein, and fats. 
QUESTIONS 
Name the parts of a seed. Name the adaptations of a seed. What 
is dormancy? viability? How can you show what conditions are 
necessary for germination of a seed? 
REFERENCES 
Ovule to Seed. 
Bessey, College Botany, pages 286-288. 
Snyder, General Science, page 105. 
Bergen and Caldwell, Practical Botany, pages 21-23. 
Seeds and Seedlings. 
Snyder, General Science, pages 202-206. 
Bergen, Foundations of Botany, pages 5-13; 14-24; 25. 
Bergen and Caldwell, Practical Botany, pages 136-145. 
Gibson, Sharp Eyes, pages 23-29. 
