Any one can tell where the plumula and rostellum of the Cocoa-nut
proceed, for we can see the two places in the shell, one at the top and
the other at the bottom. But do tell me what the white of the Cocoa-nut
is?
That sweet substance is the _Albumen_, to nourish the young embryo
inside. In most Monocotyledonous seeds, there is a lot of this
albumen--which is thus chemically changed to suit for food. In the Date
Palm this store-house is very hard, as you well know.
Is the Embryo different from others?
In general it is like an undivided cylinder, but in Grass and Corn, it
is a flat plate.
What! is Corn like the Palm, father?
Yes; for although it has a second, unshapen lobe, it is truly
monocotyledonous.
Well, father, how does the growth of the Mono folks go on?
In the Palm embryo are noticed bundles of fine tissue, arranged
circularly from the plumula to the radicle. These tissues increase and
shoot downwards. The cellular tissues of the embryo now enlarge to make
room for woody fibres, which begin to appear. A rootlet is formed, and
a leaf comes forth.
But how is the stem formed?
There are several crown leaves springing from the root in a circular
form, each circle with its own cluster of vessels. Each leaf bud sends
out a lot of woody bundles, curving downwards and outwards, which
become entangled irregularly in the cellular tissue.
That is how it is that there seems no order and arrangement about the
wood of a Palm or Fern tree. All is higgledy-piggledy, and the moist
stuff must be collected near the circumference. But what is the soft
centre made up of?
Cellular tissue, of course. You can distinguish no pith, no medullary
rays, and no distinct bark, like our fruit trees.
No, I see that which ought to be the bark is a jumble of fibres, which
cannot be separated from the stem as in the regular trees. I don’t like
these monocotyledonous trees; they seem quite ungainly and unnatural.
And yet you have no objection to the bread of corn, the sugar of the
cane, the nut of the cocoa, the date of the palm, the banana, the yam,
the arrow-root----
Stop, stop, father, you have given such a list of good things, that I
will never say a word against the monocotyledonous family as long as I
live, though I do wish the botanists would give them a name that boys
could pronounce better.
Something must be said about the leaves of these curious plants.
Instead of their veins being branched out, the leading ones run
parallel, and are connected by small cross veins. For this reason an
injury to any part of a palm leaf is of much more consequence than if
it happened to a gum leaf. You have seen that the leaves are the true
organs by which woody matter is formed, and not the inner bark, as with
other trees.
Is there any peculiarity about the flowers of Endogenous trees?
Their petals, stamens, and pistils, are generally in threes or sixes.
The palm has usually six stamens. Half the plants of New Zealand are
monocotyledonous, being far more than in Australia.
* * * * *
Will you please, father, say a few words about the third sort of
plants--the _Acotyledonous_?
These are cellular, and have no apparent flowers.
But how do they propagate or spread themselves, if they have no regular
seeds?
They have little things called _Sporules_, or _Spores_, without spiral
vessels, which are the means of increase. Mosses have capsules, with
teeth, as before mentioned; the fringe enclosing a rude kind of flower.
Some of these are barren, and others fertile. The latter may have
several imperfect pistils along with one perfect one.
I have half a mind, father, to fancy that the common fern is one of the
acotyledonous.
Some botanists think the same. The seeds are formed upon the back and
margin of the fronds or leaves, in the form of bud-like spores. They
are exceedingly small, and no flower is visible to the eye.
Do these spores, like seeds, produce stem from one part, and root from
the other?
No, my boy, the little globular things have no plumula and radicle; but
that part which is exposed to the light produces stem, and from the
shaded portion the root descends.
Are other plants produced from spores?
Yes, Willie, the mushrooms and sea-weed are. The productive organs of
lichens, the most imperfect of plants, are the _Shields_, as they are
called, upon the _Thallus_, or leaf-stem.
Well, father, I think now we have gone over all the different sorts of
plants and trees, and I feel myself the wiser for your kind and pretty
lessons. I shall be a regular botanist now.
Not so fast, my little man; you have only begun your lesson. There is
plenty more to learn. There are many thousands of names of plants,
most of which are hard to understand, and many are hard to pronounce.
Then you have to know the arrangements of all these, and their peculiar
natures and uses.
Ah! I see my work is not done. Never mind, you have taught me the
alphabet of botany. I mean now to study all the flowers and trees I
come to, with the help of your letters, until I can read off easily all
about their peculiar habits and modes of growth.
Do so, my son; but don’t, like some philosophers, elbow God out of the
field. Be ready to notice His thoughtfulness and goodness in the world
of plants; and, as they in a dumb manner show forth His praise, be you
willing, with heart and voice, to say, “My Father made them all.”
_Works by the same Author._