Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-06-04

Curious Little Vegetable Germs and the
Work They Perform.

WORK fney PERFORM.
LNEW OBJECTS SEEN UNDER THE
Il microseone ma so boaut;frI ana ;,,.-os,;,.,
ma tho ,ollo,, -, !, 80. .,s
:. =. Slams Va pNHu's. ne""iis ea'nereu
IN the garden or IN the field, their varying forms
AFFORD a most entertaining study 10 the amateur
naturalist Each flower hears nolle, % n sb.,e
macmillan IN ;tse,f % ar, r. ,,......., ~.
=, 49,. gu, ''
0"o can discover JUST "hat KINDS OF
o'oSso'ns were rned OF their sweets by the bees
to make it.
There are ever so MANY wonderful things "a
be told about pollen. Everybody Knows that
the ''stamens' of flower are the little STALKS
with yellow heads which are scattered around.
but not in. its center Those hoaa. g. ..Tos
..anthers." and each Of the,, con,a;,s -
Der of very small yellow grains wh;oh - ~,
pollen Under the r,icrosco,,a - - r.
grains is found 20 be a single coli Vii, has
two coats. and within the in,or 90, - - "a
In the fluid. when mixed With yra,o- w., ~,
seen a great many extremely minnie sran,,as
which constantly keen mn n soy, "a 60,
motion. These grannles are comnosea ~ s,ar.b
and protoplasrn the latter beiny the Co.., ~
stance of i.lants vet 10 no
The antbers as soon ms the no,Is, ,,;,h;,, ,h0,,,
is ripe burst and scatter their con,o,,s 7, =
intended by nature that some Of tba cra;,s sbaII
fall upon the s.stipma- AT the ,o, 20 ar ss.;a
TIL and this is ant 70 banne, n the a,,hars
are situated above the stigma R,, man e.
ers depend for the acknowledgements Of this mn
bees and other insects, which get their bodies
covered with pollen while seeling Gov hoDoy,
and then rub themselves accidentaIly against
the pistils One kind of plant is described NV
the botanist GRAY which can only no fms
''fertilized' by an actual fight between hoes
However. in whatever way the result is accom-
plished. the pollen is made TO adhere 20 the
stigma by a sticky secretion on the surface 81
laff @lx
occurs
THE OTTER co.r
of the nolIen grain brrs,s o,a ,ho ;v.-
rossos ,h-o,,,v,, ;. :, e. n ','ii0' -
p0 n, 'ne iorn oi "a 'uoe' "hich
gently enters the stigma and passes downward
INTO the upper part of the pistil. called the
style, making Its way through the latter until
reaches the "ovarlum at the bottom of the
style ms ovarium Is sort of seed case
formed OF several chambers arranged like the
nss OF an orange, In each OF which is an
"ovule" or seed. In fact, an orange is actually
such an oyarium, and the pips or seeds are the
oVuies. Each oyule has a small hole in it, as
you may dl. cover by soaking an orange seed in
weter ana tnen squeezing out the fluid absorbed,
wnich VIII De seen 10 issue from the little orr
nee. IL VIII be perceived presently how essen
tial tnis orince Is to the purpose Of nature.
Ordinarily, from each pollen grain several
on tnese littie tubes proceed Some of the
sr;ann,,,a o .1ose he has'uruum, are
corner. while other Linds Of ,rains o,,;, 80 !.
number of tubes The tubes, passing down
through the pistil to the ovarium, direct them
selves INTO the different chambers and enter the
several ovules or seeds. Very often the seed is
not In such position that the tube can find it's
way to the oritice il seeks, but, Just as il is
descending. the seed always turns itself SO as to
receive the tube through its opening. The
granules which the pollen grain originally con-
tanned make their way down through the tubes
and some OF them are conveyed into each seed
While these granules are yet within the tubes
they are seen to develop into new cells which
form the rudiments of future plants
Thus the germs are conveyed into receptacles
where nourishment has been stored away for
their use by the parent plant. The pulpy mat
". va, ), III INC sceu cohsists OF strcn anu
ppon hy Tho -roun ,,,bu, ;.'. are ied
develops in the shell from the germ 10 the
downy bird by absorbing the yolk and white of
the egg. What food the embryo plant absorbs
from the contents of the seed, however. does
not Tor the most part contribute to form those
portions which are afterward to be developed
into stem, root and leaves. The bulk of it goes
10 produce the temporary ''seed leaves" which
one and sometimes two
when the growing germ, fattened upon the
sugar and starch of the seed, bursts the en-
velope of the latter and sprouts"
PART OF THE STARCH
originally stored away in the seed is intended
to nourish the vounc Man, NIL d. -. ;.
.Ao '""Ne i'ah' "iiiie tne latUer is
This portion of food il soma. times "a i'm tba ,,aa