Part 3

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._

GEOGRAPHY OF AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND.

Cloth, 4s.

Illustrated with Four Maps of the Colonies.

Sanctioned in the schools of the National and Denominational School Boards of Victoria.

OPINIONS OF THE PRESS.

Mr. Bonwick has been for many years resident in these colonies; he has had access to the best sources of information; he has been indefatigable in his efforts to produce a book which might be a standard one on the subjects it treats; and he has succeeded.--_Melbourne Argus._

DISCOVERY AND SETTLEMENT OF PORT PHILLIP.

Future historians will turn to it as a repertory of valuable facts, lucidly, systematically, and chronologically stated.--_Melbourne Argus._

MAP OF VICTORIA.

Affording information upon Geological Features, Roads, &c.

THE BUSHRANGERS; ILLUSTRATING THE EARLY DAYS OF VAN DIEMAN’S LAND.

The book is by no means a mere Newgate Calendar, but something infinitely better. It exhibits a correct position of the state of society in earlier days.--_Hobart Town Colonial Times._

GEOGRAPHY FOR YOUNG AUSTRALIANS. 1s.

One half the book relates to the Geography of the Colonies, prepared for the use of Junior Classes.

WILLIAM BUCKLEY, THE WILD WHITE MAN, _And his Port Phillip Black Friends_. 2_s._

THE EARLY DAYS OF MELBOURNE.

1s. Cloth, Illustrated.

NOW PUBLISHING, EARLY TIMES OF ENGLAND FOR YOUNG AUSTRALIANS; AND BIBLE STORIES FOR YOUNG AUSTRALIANS.

_Goodhugh & Hough, Printers, Flinders Lane._

TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES:

Text in italics is surrounded by underscores: _italics_.

Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.

Archaic or alternate spelling which may have been in use at the time of publication has been retained.