192 LIFE STORIES OF PLANTS 
The old flower. As the flower gets old the petals and 
stamens wither and die. They either fall away or 
collapse around the pistil. If the flower has done the 
work for which it was intended, the pistil does not die. 
It grows longer and broader and thicker, until we see 
that it is becoming a pea pod. When it has grown a 
little, split the young pod open into 
halves, the same way that you have 
seen peas or beans shelled. Attached 
to one edge of the inside of the little 
pod you will see tiny roundish bodies, 
in the position in which you find the 
peas or seeds in the older pods. The 
pod is a sort of box which contains 
the seeds. The tiny bodies are cases 
in which the embryos are formed. 
They may be called embryo cases 
BG, 200. sect then. The case and embryo together 
| make the seed. The pistil, or seed 
box, contains embryo cases in which seeds are formed. 
How the seed is formed. You cannot see how the 
seed is formed. This part of the story has been found 
out by those who are accustomed to use a powerful 
microscope. They cut up the growing embryo case 
(ovule) into very thin layers and search in these with a 
microscope to see the work that is done here. Thus 
we read the story of how the seed is formed. 

