LESSON III.
A LOOK AT A PLANT.
Plants are divided into two great classes. One class contains all plants with flowers. The other class contains plants that have no flowers. The plants with flowers are the ones which you like best. They are of the most interest to you. Besides this, they are the easiest to learn about.
A CHILD OF THE GARDEN.
A CHILD OF THE GARDEN.
A piece of moss is a flowerless plant. What you call a “simple bit of moss,” would be harder to learn about than a whole garden full of lilies and roses.
The plants with flowers are the most perfect plants. They are also the most beautiful, and the most useful. A perfect plant has six parts for you to notice: 1, the root; 2, the stem; 3, leaves; 4, blossoms (the blossom is made of several parts); 5, a bag or box for seeds; 6, seeds.
Here are all those parts shown in our picture of a pea-vine. You see our pea-vine has something else. It has little curly things with which to climb. They are its hands for taking hold of objects. They are leaves, buds, or twigs, that have changed. They are now tendrils. They grew slim, and long, and curly, as the plant had need of them for climbing.
Some plants do not have all these parts. Some have no stems. Have you not found little plants without stems? The leaves and flowers sit close upon the earth. Some plants have no leaves.
Sometimes parts of the flower are gone. Instead of a fine flower there may be only a little scale, with a bunch of small threads lying upon it.
Now let us take a little look at the parts of a perfect plant. We just want to see the great variety in them. We will learn also of what use they are to the plant.
Of what use are roots? The root is the plant’s anchor to hold it firm in its place. The root is the plant’s pantry or cellar, where much of its food is stored up. The root is the plant’s mouth. Many of the mouths of the plant are on the ends of the little fibres that grow from the main part of the root. Get some plant roots and look at the fringe-like,slender fibres. These little mouths under ground are eating, eating, eating, all the time. They eat all kinds of minerals held in water in the earth.
Roots last one, two, or many years. Where the root lasts one year, the plant is soft and juicy. Where the root lasts over one year, the plant is often more or less hard and woody.
Roots differ much in shape. Pull up some grass. That has roots like a bunch of coarse threads. When I was a child I was much pleased to learn that it was such slim, thread-like roots that held together the earth of the Holland coast, so the sea could not wash it away.
Get a carrot from the garden or market. What a long wedge-like root it has. The radish is a slimmer root. The beet has the same general shape, but is thicker. The turnip is round. The dahlia has rough, knobby roots of many shapes.
But, in fact, all these thick parts which we call roots are not true roots. The real true roots are the little fibres with mouths at the ends. These thick, round, wedge-shaped, or knobby, parts, are stems, or parts of stems, that grow under ground.
Now and then, if a tree or plant is set in the earth, top down, the roots will put out leaves and buds.This shows that they are underground stems, or branches.
“What kind of a root is a potato?” asks Bobby. A potato is not a root. It is a thick underground stem. The real potato roots are the little fibres.
“What kind of root is an onion?” says Mary. An onion is not a root, it is a bud or bulb. The scales are leaves that have grown white and thick. The real roots of the onion are the fibres that hang in a bunch under the round part.
Roots are of many colors. They are brown, white, red, yellow, pink, orange.
Roots of many plants are useful to men for food. They also have stored up in them the food on which the plant lives.
Now let us look at the plant stem. See this lily stem. It dies down each year. It is soft and hollow, and full of water. Cut down a rose stem. That lives a number of years. It is hard and woody.
Some stems have leaves growing upon them, some have none. Some are smooth, others are jointed. Have you seen the joints or rings on a corn-stalk?
Some stems are erect, as the trunks of trees. Some stems climb, as that of the vine; some creep along the ground, as those of the strawberry.
Some stems are round, some square; some are smooth; some are rough.
The color of most stems is green, or brown. Sometimes they are yellow, or of other colors. The corn stem is pale yellow. It has joints. From some of these lower joints you will see roots growing out, and reaching down to fasten in the ground. They act as tent cords; they help hold the stalk firm in the earth.
The trunk of a great tree is a stem; so is the fine stalk of a violet. You see how they differ in size. But different kinds of stems have different names.
Of what use are stems? To the plant the stem is of use, as it holds the leaves, and flowers, and fruit, up into the air and sun. Also the stem is made up of the tubes or pipes which carry the sap, and the food it holds, through all the plant.
Plant stems are very useful to men. The stems of trees give us wood for fuel, and to build ships and houses, and to make furniture. Some stems are also good for food. The stems of flax give us linen.
Now let us look at leaves. What can you tell me about leaves? You will say they are mostly green, but some are of other colors. You will tell me that some are thick, some are thin. Some have veins like a net, some have straight veins. Some leaves are smooth, some rough, or downy.
Some leaves are long, like those of the yellow lily; some are round, like those of the water lily. Some are shaped like hearts, some like arrows, some like shields. Some have smooth edges, some have edges pointed or scalloped. Suppose you count and see how many kinds of leaves you find?
Of what use are leaves? By the leaves the plant breathes. But I shall tell you more about the use of leaves to the plant some other time. Leaves are of use to man. They make a lovely shade. Some leaves are good for food. Out of some leaves cloth, hats, and other useful things, are made.
Leaves differ much in size. There are big palm leaves, ten feet wide. Other leaves are as small as a grain of rice.
Most leaves die and drop from the trees in the fall of the year. But some leaves stay green all winter.
The part of the plant which you like best is the flower. The flower has the most of the color, and the most of the fragrance of the plant. In the flower cup is that drop of honey which the insects like.
Let us look at a buttercup flower. First, here is a ring of what you call five green leaves. They form a cup to hold the flower. Next to these youfind a row of bright yellow leaves. These are the petals. Inside there is a little bunch of fine fringe. This fringe is of two kinds. The outside threads are stamens, the middle ones pistils.
The stamens have on them the pollen, or yellow dust, of which you have heard.[5]At the bottom of the pistil is the little seed case or bag. This case grows. It holds the seeds. The other parts of the flower fade and fall. The seed case grows and grows, and the seeds grow in it.
The seed cup, or case, is of many shapes and sizes. I shall tell you more of the seed and its case some other time.
Flowers differ as much or more than leaves in shape, color, size. They differ also in smell. Some smell sweet; some smell bad; some have no smell. Sometimes the flower cup is all in one piece, sometimes it is in two, three, five, or very many pieces.
FOOTNOTES:[5]Nature Reader, No. 2, pp. 34, 35; No. 1, pp. 39, 45.
[5]Nature Reader, No. 2, pp. 34, 35; No. 1, pp. 39, 45.
[5]Nature Reader, No. 2, pp. 34, 35; No. 1, pp. 39, 45.