HOW SEEDLINGS COME UP 3 
their way through the soil unharmed. What would have 
happened to the leaves if they had unfolded in the 
ground ? 
How the bean behaves in coming out of the ground. 
When we look for the bean seedling as it 1s coming 
up we see that the stem is bent into a 
loop. This loop forces its way through 
the soil, dragging on one end the bean 
that was buried. Sometimes the outer 
coat of the seed clings to the bean as 
it comes from the ground, but usually this slips off and 
is left in the ground. Soon after the loop appears 
above ground it straightens out and lifts the bean 
several inches high. As the bean is being raised above 
ground the outer coat slips off. Now - 
we see that the bean is split into ,« AG 1 | 
two thick parts (cot-y-le'dons), which if Y y | 
spread farther and farther apart, {f, i} 

Fig. 3. The ‘loop ”’ 
of the bean seed- 
ling. 
E= \ 

showing between them young green \4/ 9 | i 
leaves, which soon expand into well- tax | 
formed bean leaves. i 
The pea seedling comes up in a : aa - 
different way. The stem of the pea me. 4. Germinating bean 
shedding the seed coats. 
also comes up in a loop. As it 
straightens up we look in vain for the pea on the end. 
There are small green leaves, but no thick part of the 
pea which was buried in the ground. This part of the 
