Part Vii—Learning to See

A BAD HABIT

In fact, if you are to see any of the things that are really worth seeing, you must study the art of using your eyes. You must learn to see.

This world is full of things that are beautiful and interesting, things that do not cost money, that can be had for the seeing.

School is nearly over now, and during the weeks that lie before you there will be many hours which you children can call your own.

I wonder what you will do with these holiday hours?

Of course, you will play a great deal; at least, I hope you will, for we need play almost as much as we need work. But one does not play every minute, even in the holidays. I hope that all of you will spend a part of your holidays in trying to be a little useful to your mothers.

But even then there will be some time left for other things,—things that are not work, and that are not exactly play, yet that are a little of each, and so perhaps better than either play or work alone.

Among these “other things” I hope “learning to see” will find its place. I wish that every child who reads this book would make a resolution that during these coming holiday weeks he will “learn to see.”

There are many different ways of doing this. The children in the city can learn this great lesson as well as those who live in the country. There is much to be seen in the city besides people and houses, and horses and wagons. There are the clouds of the sky by day, and its stars by night. There are the trees in the squares, the birds and flowers in the parks, and much besides.

The children who live by the sea do not have the great forest trees that grow among the mountains; but for this loss they can comfort themselves by the beautiful rose mallows (see the picture at the head of this chapter) that grow in the marsh, by the sea pinks along the creek, by the pretty shells and seaweeds on the beach.

But perhaps you think I am quite wrong in taking it for granted that you need to “learn to see.” What gives me the idea that you ought to learn any such lesson?

Well, nine times out of ten, if I hand a flower to a child and ask him to look at it and then to tell me about it, he will stare at it, oh, very hard indeed, for some moments, and then he will have nothing to say.

Now, this cannot be the fault of the flower; for we have seen that the flower is made up of so many different things that to tell about them all takes some time. It must be the fault of the child; or at least the fault of his eyes and brain, both of which are needed for really seeing, and which probably he does not know how to use.

It must be that he has never “learned to see.” Perhaps he has used his eyes well enough, and has really seen a great many things in the flower; but his brain may not be able to put them together in the right way, and to find the words that are needed.

If this is the only trouble, a little practice will make it all right. He will find that his brain works better after each trial, just as a new pair of scissors works better after it has been used several times.

But often the eyes do not seem to do their share of the work; and if they do not, there is no chance for the brain to come to their help.

That is a sad state of affairs, because, if when we are young we let our eyes form bad habits, such as not seeing the things they ought to see, we are likely to be half blind all the rest of our lives.

It would be a terrible thing, would it not, to be told that you were about to become blind, that soon you would be unable to see the things about you?

Now, while I trust that none of you will ever become altogether blind, I tell you honestly, I greatly fear that some of you are in danger of becoming partly so,—of becoming blind to many of the things about you that would please you greatly if you only saw them. And I know that this sort of blindness must take from your lives much happiness.

But still you may wonder how I know this about children whom I have never seen. How can I know whether the boys and girls who read this are in any danger of losing their power to see?

Well, the only way I know about you boys and girls, whom I have never seen, is by watching very carefully the ones I do see.

You children who live in New York, say, have never seen the children who live in California; yet you feel sure that they have eyes and ears just as you have, do you not?

And you are pretty confident that most of them like to play far better than they like to work; that sometimes they are good-natured, and that again they are quarrelsome; and that in many ways they are like the boys and girls who live near you.

In just the same way I am able to guess that you children whom I do not know are more or less like the ones I do know.

Now, among these children only a few, as I have said before, seem to have the full use of their eyes. This troubles me, because the evil is one that grows greater as the children grow older. Perhaps you know that if you stop using any part of your body, that part soon begins to lose its power of doing the things it was meant to do.

If you should not use your legs for a long time, they would grow so weak that they could hardly carry you. It would be much as if you had no legs, or at least as if you had legs that could not do the work they were meant to do.

If you stopped using your hands, you would find your fingers growing stiffer and stiffer, so that at last they could not take a good hold of things.

And if your eyes are not used for seeing clearly the things before them, they will grow less and less able to see clearly.

A COUNTRY ROAD

I have taken a walk along a country road which was bright with flowers of many kinds, where lovely-colored butterflies and buzzing bees were hard at work hunting for sweet stuff, where birds were singing in the trees as they watched their nests, where a rabbit would dart from the bushes close by, and a squirrel would scold at me from overhead,—where, in short, there was so much to look at and delight in, that I could hardly make up my mind to keep on to my journey’s end, instead of stopping to see if I knew the names of all the flowers, to admire the queer, bright-colored little patterns on the wing of the butterfly which was resting on a neighboring blossom, and to find out what sort of eggs were in the nest that I knew must be near at hand, for the mother bird let out her secret by her frightened clucking.

Well, I have taken just such a walk; and on going into the house I have felt as if I were obliged to put aside a book of enchanting fairy stories, or rather as if I were turning my back on fairyland itself, with all its wonderful sights and sounds and adventures.

And then what has happened?

Why, some child (it has not always been a child) has come in, and I have said, “Was not that a fine walk? What did you see along that lovely road?”

Now, if he was a boy (for I want to be quite fair), he probably had seen the rabbit and given it chase; and it is more than likely that he had stopped long enough to chuck a stone at the squirrel; and if the mother bird had not finished with her foolish chatter, I fear he gave her some evil moments by hunting for her nest, with no good intentions. But if, fortunately for them, he had met none of these creatures, he probably looked at me in surprise, and answered by look, if not by words, “No, I thought it a long, stupid walk. I did not see a thing.”

And if it was a girl, I fear the answer, silent or spoken, was much the same.

Now, I say that boy or girl must have been partly blind to have missed seeing those wonderful flowers, and butterflies, and bees, and birds, and many other interesting things which I have not time here to tell about. Certainly they were not using their eyes properly; and the longer they go about in such a way, more worthy of a bat than of a well-made child, the more useless and bat-like will their eyes become.

It is really more natural for a child to use his eyes constantly than it is for an older person. The grown-up man or woman is likely to have so many things to think about, that eyes and brain do not always work together, and so the surroundings are not noticed.

For every boy knows that if his head is full of the ball game he is going to play, he runs along without eyes or thoughts for other things.

And every girl knows that if she is on her way to some friend to whom she has a secret to tell, she is in such haste to reach her journey’s end, and is so busy thinking what her friend will have to say about it all, that of course there is no time to pay attention to anything else. Her eyes may be in good working order, yet they are not of much use unless her brain is ready to help them; and that little brain just now is too busy with its secret.

No, by the people who are half blind I mean only those who much of the time use neither eyes nor brain, who can neither tell you what they have seen nor what they have been thinking about. Sometimes it seems as if such people were not only half blind, it seems as if they were only half alive.

A HOLIDAY LESSON

But I am in hopes that some of the children who read this book will say, “I do not think it fair to call children half blind and only half alive. I know I am not half blind. I saw all those things that Mrs. Dana saw along that country road, and” (perhaps some of them may add) “a good deal more too. I know all the different flowers by sight, and the sunny hollows where the first ones come. I know where ever so many of the birds build their nests, and how their different eggs are marked and colored. Often I go down to the little pool in the woods where they come for their bath. I know how the caterpillars wrap themselves in leaves and come out beautiful butterflies. I have peeped into the hollow of the tree where the red squirrel is bringing up its family; and I have seen how the pretty green katydid scrapes his wings along his sides, and makes the sound, ‘Katy did, Katy didn’t,’ and oh, so many more things that I have not time to tell them all.”

Ah! that is just it. The child that knows how to use his eyes can see so much, so many wonderful things!

That is why I am so anxious that he or she should not miss through carelessness the revelations that come to the child alone.

It seems as though the woods and fields were more ready to tell their stories, to whisper their secrets, to children than to grown people. If people learn to use their eyes and ears only after they are grown, I hardly think that they will ever read quite the same stories, ever listen to quite such wonderful secrets, as if they had begun to look and to listen when they were little children.

If fairy godmothers came now, as the stories tell us they did once upon a time, to the christenings of our little ones, offering whatever gifts the parents should choose, it seems to me one of the wisest selections would be the power to see.

And so when I ask you children, now that you are putting by your lesson books for many weeks, to learn one lesson this holiday time,—to learn to see,—I am asking you to do something that will make your lives far happier than they could be were this lesson left unlearned.

INDEX

(For the convenience of teachers and other older readers, technical terms avoided in the body of the book are given in the index.)

Above-ground roots, 106-111.

Acorn, seed of oak, 68. seed leaves of, 87. a fruit, 95.

Adder’s tongue, yellow, 203, 216, 219.

Air, composition of, 151.

Air roots, 107.

Alder, black, 49.

Alder, speckled, 173.

Alder, swamp, 173.

Alder tassels, 207-209.

Almond seed, a food, 91.

Amphibious knotweed, 119, 123.

Anemone, 203, 209, 216, 219.

Animals and plants, difference between, 154, 155.

Anthers, see “dust boxes.”

Apple, study of, 11-19. seed of, 20, 24, 27, 29, 93. signs of ripeness of, 28, 29.

Apple blossom, parts of, 14, 15, 32. buds of, 129.

Ash, seed of, 62.

Aster puffball, 59.

Asters, 251, 252, 254.

Baneberry, red, 49.

Baneberry, white, 49.

Barberry, 49. stamens of, 193.

Bark, defined, 120, 121.

Basswood, leaves of, 165.

Bean, planting of seed of, 80. seed leaves of, 81. development of seed, 81-83, 96-98. root of, 99. stem of, 115, 117.

Bee, a pollen carrier, 17, 18, 189, 207, 226, 227, 233.

Beech tree, 215.

Beet, root of, 102, 103.

Birch tassels, 208, 209.

Birds, as seed transporters, 72, 73.

Bittersweet berries, 42.

Black alder, 49.

Blackberry, development of, 235-237.

Bladderwort, 179, 180.

Bloodroot, 106.

Bloom, 173.

Blue daisy, 251.

Blue flag, classified, 88.

Bristles, 175.

Bryophyllum, 132, 133, 150.

Buckwheat seed, a food, 91.

Buds, 125-133. protection of, 126, 127, 131. position of, 128, 132. unprotected, 130. on leaves, 132, 133.

Bulb, described, 105, 106. an underground stem, 216, 217.

Bulblets, defined, 132.

Burdock burr, 35, 36, 52, 53, 95.

Burrs, description of, 52. use of, to plant, 53. as seed cases, 67, 68.

Buttercup, pistils and stamens of, 201

Buttonwood buds, 130, 131.

Cabbage leaves, 173.

Cabbage, skunk, 204.

Caladium, 163, 164.

Calyx (cup), described, 15. position of, 18. function of, 188. defined, 189.

Carrion vine, 230, 231.

Carrot root, 102.

Carrot, wild, 246, 247.

Castor-oil plant, seed of, 72.

Cells, 139-143. description of, 139. passage of moisture through, 147, 148. water supply of, 149. functions of, 152. loosening leafstalk, 185.

Cherry blossom, parts of, 37, 38, 188, 189, 218. development into cherry, 37, 38, 189.

Cherry tree, branch of, 126. buds of, 129.

Cherry, wild, 39.

Chestnut, burrs of, 67, 68. seed leaves of, 87, 88. leaves of, 161.

Chicory flower, pollen of, 197.

Chlorophyll (leaf green), described, 137. function of, 151-161.

Chokecherries, 39, 40.

Clematis, seed appendages of, 58. fruit clusters of, 59. stem of, 115.

“Clock,” dandelion’s fruit, 35.

Clover, red and white, 117. leaf of, 168. a flower head, 243, 244, 247.

Coal, origin of, 152, 153.

Cocoanut, 69.

Coffee seed, a food, 91.

Color change in leaf, 185.

Coloring of fruit, function of, 42, 43, 50.

Columbine, plan of, 221. spur of, 226.

Composite family, 248, 252, 254.

Corm, 105, 106.

Corn, seed of, 80, 88. seed leaves of, 88. stem of, 114, 117. stalk of, 120, 121.

Corolla, position of, 15. of apple blossom, 19. function of, 188. defined, 190.

Cottonwood seed, 61.

Cotyledons, see “seed leaves.”

Crane’s bill, 65, 66.

Crocus, bulb or underground stem of, 105, 150. an early flower, 216.

Cup, green, see “calyx.”

Cyclamen, underground stem of, 105.

Daffodil, 216.

Daisy, pollen of, 196. plan of, 249-251. blue, 251. flower head of, 252. strap and tube flowers of, 254, 255.

Dandelion, puffball of, 35, 36, 95. fruit cluster of, 60. plan of, 247, 248. flower head of, 252. strap flowers of, 254, 255.

Dicotyledonous plants (plants with two seed leaves), 85-87.

Dodder, 108-110, 114, 123.

Dogwood, berries of, 42.

Dogwood blossom, plan of, 245.

Duckweed, 111.

Dust boxes (anthers), position of, 14, 227. contents of, 17. function of, 188. varieties of, 193-195.

Dutchman’s breeches, 203.

Easter lily, building plan of, 191. stamens of, 193. description of, 218, 219.

Elm, seed of, 62.

Enchanter’s nightshade, stamen of, 195.

English ivy, 106, 107, 115, 116.

Eucalyptus, perspiration of, 149.

Evening primrose, a night-blooming flower, 229, 230. pollen of, 197.

Evergreen leaves, 184.

Evergreen plants, 171.

Everlasting, 255.

Eyes of potato, 104, 131.

False Solomon’s seal, 48.

Ferns, 215.

Fertilization, see “pollen.”

Fibrous roots, 102, 103.

Fir tree, trunk of, 121.

Fireweed, pod of, 58. stamens and pistil of, 227, 228.

Flax plant, 110.

Fleshy root, 102-104.

Flower cluster, 245, 246.

Flower dust, see “pollen.”

Flower head, 244, 247-255.

Flower leaves, 192.

Flowering plants, 22.

Flowers, 187-255. with many pistils, 201, 202. with stamens only, 206-211. with pistils only, 207-211, 250. of trees, 209-211. night-opening, 228-230. design of odor of, 231.

Food of plants, 143-148, 150.

Forsythia, buds of, 129.

Foxglove, garden, 225.

Foxglove, yellow false, 112, 225, 226.

Fruit, the plant’s object, 24. the seed holder, 33-36. defined, 34, 94. wild and cultivated, 39, 40. varieties of, 52-55, 95. function of, 95. formed from pistil, 202.

Fruits and seeds, 9-73.

Garden foxglove, 225.

Geranium, wild, 65, 66, 220.

Golden-rod, fruit clusters of, 59. stamens of, 194, 195. plan of, 252, 253. description of, 254.

Grass of Parnassus, pistil of, 200.

Grass plants, classified, 88.

Hairy leaves, design of, 170-175.

Hanging roots, 107.

Haws, 49.

Hemlock cone, 62.

Hemlock tree, 171, 184.

Hobblebush, leaves of, 215. buds of, 130. flower cluster of, 245, 246.

Holly leaves, 174, 175.

Hop hornbeam fruit, 62.

Horse chestnut, buds of, 126, 128.

Hyacinth, 216.

Indian corn, see “corn.”

Indian cucumber root, 44, 45.

Indian pipe, 112.

Ivy, English, 106, 107, 115, 116.

Ivy, Japanese, 116.

Ivy, poison, 107, 115, 116.

Jack-in-the-pulpit, flower and berry of, 47. underground stem of, 105, 123. leaf of, 214. an early spring flower, 216.

Japanese ivy, 116.

Jewelweed, blossom of, 222. pod of, 65, 66.

Lady’s eardrop, 66.

Lady’s slipper, 222.

Laurel flower, pollen of, 197.

Leaf blade, described, 136, 137. position of, 161.

Leaf green (chlorophyll) described, 137. function of, 151-161.

Leaf mouths, function of, 146, 159, 160, 171-173. perspiration of, 148, 149.

Leaflets, defined, 168.

Leafstalk, use of, 115. a bud protector, 131. defined, 136.

Leaves, 135-185. protection of, 126, 127. buds on, 132, 133. parts of, 135-137. edges of, 135, 136, 168. functions of, 145. perspiration of, 146, 149, 150, 170-173. as storehouses, 150. position of, 160, 161. shapes of, 161, 167, 168. effect on roots, 162. net-veined, 165, 166. parallel-veined, 166. covering on, 170-175. hairy, 170-172, 175. woolly, 172. as traps, 176-183. fall of, 184, 185. color change of, 185.

Life everlasting, 171, 172.

Life substance of plants (protoplasm), 140, 141.

Lily, classified, 88. underground stem of, 123, 150. flower leaves of, 191. plan of, 191, 192. pollen of, 196. pistil of, 197, 198. development of, 199. coloring of, 226.

Lily, Easter, plan of, 191, 218, 219.

Lily family, 45, 219.

Liverwort, 203, 219.

Locust leaf, 168.

Mallow, stamens of, 195.

Mangrove, fruit and stem of, 92-94.

Maple, keys of, 86, 210. winged seed of, 61, 86. seed leaves of, 90. branch of, 126. buds of, 129. leaf of, 136, 165, 167. flower of, 210.

Maple, red, 92, 127.

Maple, silver, 210.

Maple, sugar, 92, 210.

Maple, swamp, 210.

Marsh marigold, a spring flower, 203. plan of, 218. pistils of, 219.

Midrib of leaf, 137.

Milkweed, pod of, 35, 95. seedbox of, 57. seeds of, 61.

Mistletoe, 110, 111.

Monocotyledonous plants (plants with one seed leaf), 88.

Morning-glory, seed leaves of, 78. seed of, 83, 90. development of, 112, 113. stem of, 114, 115, 117, 123.

Mountain laurel, buds of, 129. arrangement of stamens of, 226, 227.

Mullein leaves, 170, 175.

Nasturtium spur, 226.

Nepenthes leaf, 178, 179.

Nettles, 175.

Net-veined leaves, 165, 166.

Nightshade, enchanter’s, 195.

Nightshade, garden, 115.

Nourishment of plant, 150.

Oak, seed of, 68. root of, 145. leaf of, 167.

Oat seed, a food, 91.

Orchid family, 107, 223, 224.

Orchids, 123, 223, 224, 226.

Ovary, see “seedbox.”

Palm tree, trunk of, 121.

Pansy, plan of, 220.

Parallel-veined leaves, 166.

Parasitic plants, 108-111.

Parsley family, 247.

Partridge berries, 45, 46, 51.

Partridge vine, 46, 184, 231.

Pea, seed of, 80, 87, 90, 242. seed leaves of, 87. stem of, 115. pod of, 241, 242.

Pea blossom, stamens of, 194, 241, 242. pistil of, 200, 241, 242. analysis of, 240-242.

Pea family, 54, 240.

Peach, compared with apple, 36. blossom of, 38. Persian origin of, 40. buds of, 129.

Pear, compared with apple, 31. blossom of, 32. buds of, 129.

Pear, wild, 118.

Peony seeds, 75, 76.

Perspiration of plants, 148, 149, 160.

Petals (handkerchiefs), used as signals, 17, 18, 188, 192, 221, 223, 226. functions of, 188.

Pine, cone of, 62. classified, 88, 89. leaves of, 171, 184. flower of, 197.

Pins with dust boxes, see “stamens.”

Pins without dust boxes, see “pistils.”

Pistils (pins without dust boxes), described, 15, 18, 197-202. function of, 188, 198, 199. defined, 190. varieties of, 200. flowers with many, 201, 202. fruit formed from, 202. position of, 227, 228, 248. of strawberry, 233, 234. of berries, 236.

Pit or stone, 37.

Pitcher plant, 176-178.

Pith, defined, 120, 121.

Plants, flowering, 22. object of life of, 22, 23. use of, to world, 26, 27. service of, to animals, 26, 27, 156, 157. young, 75-98. nourishment of, 75, 76, 77, 150, 156-160. with two seed leaves (dicotyledons), 85-87. with one seed leaf (monocotyledons), 88. with many seed leaves (polycotyledons), 88, 89. parasitic, 108-111. development of, 112, 113. absorption of water by, 147. perspiration of, 148, 149, 160. as air purifiers, 151-153, 158, 159. breathing of, 158-160. storing of food in, 185, 216, 217. protection of, 214, 215.

Plants and animals, difference between, 154, 155.

Plum, compared with apple, 36. blossom of, 38.

Plum, wild beach, 40.

Pods, 35, 54, 55, 58, 65-67, 241, 242.

Poison ivy, 107, 115, 116.

Pollen (flower dust), described, 14, 196-199. carriers of, 17, 18, 189, 207, 213, 223, 224, 226-230, 233. effect on pistil, 18, 20. fertilizing power of, 18, 20, 196-199. transportation of, 18, 207, 211, 213, 226, 227, 229-231, 233, 250. function of, 188, 198, 199. varieties of, 196, 197. defined, 199, 200.

Polycotyledonous plants (plants with many seed leaves), 88, 89.

Polygala, 222.

Poplar tassels, 211.

Poppy seed, dispersal of, 70, 71.

Potato, a stem, 104, 131. eyes of, 131, 174.

Potato, sweet, 102.

Prickles, 174, 175.

Primrose, evening, 197, 229, 230.

Protoplasm (life substance), 140, 141.

Puffballs, 35, 36, 59, 95.

Pussy willow, 129. tassels of, 205-207.

Quince leaf, 135, 136, 137, 165.

Radish root, 102.

Raspberry, development of, 237-239.

Red baneberry, 49.

Red clover, stem of, 117.

Red maple, seed of, 92. leaves of, 127. buds of, 127.

Rhubarb plant, 164.

Robin’s plantain, 251, 252.

Root branches, 162-164.

Roots, origin of, 81, 113. hairs of, 81, 99-102, 104, 123, 143. function of, 99-103. fibrous, 102, 103. fleshy, 102-104. as food, 103, 104. above-ground, 106-111. varieties of, 106-112. hanging, 107. underground, 111. water, 111, 112. absorbing capacity of, 146. spreading of, 162, 163. position of, 163, 164.

Roots and stems, 99-122.

Rootstocks, function of, 106, 217.

Rose, petals of, 32, 33. stem of, 120.

Rose family, 31, 32, 36, 40, 235.

Rose hip, 33, 34.

Rose mallow, 258.

Rose of Jericho, pod of, 71.

Rose, wild, 32.

Saint John’s-wort, pistil of, 200.

Saxifrage, pistil of, 200.

Sea pinks, 228, 258.

Seaweed, 258.

Seed sailboats (appendages), 56-60, 207.

Seedbox (ovary), described, 15, 18. function of, 188. in berries, 236-239.

Seed coat, 80-84, 86, 113.

Seed leaf, plants with one (monocotyledons), 88. of corn, 88.

Seed leaves (cotyledons), description of, 78, 81-90. plants with two (dicotyledons), 85-87. of acorn, 87. of pea, 87. of walnut, 87, 88. of chestnut, 87, 88. plants with many (polycotyledons), 88, 89. development of, 113. number of, 120, 121, 165.

Seeds, growth of, in the apple, 18-20. the object of the plant’s life, 24. importance of, to world, 27. protection of, 28, 29. reason for scattering of, 50, 51. transportation of, 52-64, 69-73. winged, 61 shooting, 63-67. nourishment of, 75-77. planting of, 79-87, 95, 96. germination of, 80-89, 92, 198, 199. as food, 89-91. as storehouses, 90, 91.

Shin leaf flower, stamen of, 193.

Shooting seeds, 64-67.

Silver maple, 210.

Skunk cabbage, description of, 204.

Snowberry, stem of, 117.

Snowdrop, 216.

Solomon’s seal, fruit of, 48. underground stem of, 105, 216. scars of, 105, 106.

Solomon’s seal, false, 48.

Speckled alder, 173.

Spice bush buds, 129.

Spikenard, 49.

Spring beauty, 203, 216.

Spur, 226.

Squash, seed of, 80, 85, 86, 90.

Squirting cucumber, 67.

Stamens (pins with dust boxes), description of, 14. function of, 188. defined, 190. varieties of, 193-195. position of, 248.

Steeple bush, leaves of, 172.

Stems, development of, 81, 112, 113. of bean plant, 96. underground, 104-106, 150, 216-219. varieties of, 104, 112-120. use of, to plant, 113-117. habits of, 117-119. hairy, 118, 119. sticky, 118. parts of, 120. as water carriers, 146-148, 163.

Stick-tight, 55.

Stone or pit of fruits, 37.

Strap flowers, 247-255.

Strawberry, stem of, 117. pistil of, 201. development of, 233, 234. description of, 238.

Sugar maple, seeds of, 92. blossom of, 210.

Sumac, 43.

Sun (Sunbeam), factor in plant life, 151-161.

Sundew, leaf of, 182, 183. pistil of, 200.

Sunflower, plan of, 255.

Sunflower plant, perspiration of, 149.

Swamp alder, 173.

Swamp maple, 210.

Sweet potato root, 102.

Thistle, 56, 59, 118, 174, 254, 255.

Thistle down, 56.

Thorn, 49. use of, to plant, 117, 118.

Thorn apple, 199.

Tick trefoil pod, 54, 55.

Ticks, transportation of, 55.

Tiger lily buds, 132.

Touch-me-not pod, 65-67.

Trailing arbutus, a spring flower, 203, 209. plan of, 217, 218.

Transportation of pollen, 18, 207, 211, 213, 226, 227, 229-231, 233, 250.

Transportation of seeds, 52-64, 69-73.

Traps of plants, 176-183.

Trees, flowers of, 209, 211.

Trunk, a stem, 119. section of, 121, 147.

Tube flowers, 249-255.

Tuber, defined, 217.

Tulip, stem of, 148. parts of, 193. an early spring flower, 216.

Turnip root, 102.

Underground roots, 111.

Underground stems, 104, 105, 150, 216, 217, 219.

Veinlets, described, 137. function of, 160.

Veins, described, 137. function of, 160. significance of, 165.

Venus’s flytrap, leaf of, 181.

Violet, a spring flower, 203, 209. plan of, 220. spur of, 226.

Violet, yellow, 203.

Virginia creeper, 116.

Wake-robin, a spring flower, 216. plan of, 219.

Walnut, seed leaves of, 87, 88. seed of, 90. a fruit, 95.

Water lily, stem of, 116, 117.

Water roots, 111, 112.

Wheat seed, a food, 91.

White baneberry, 49.

White clover, stem of, 117.

White elm, flower cluster of, 210.

Wild beach plum, 40.

Wild carrot, 246, 247.

Wild geranium, plan of, 220. seed dispersal of, 65, 66.

Wild ginger, a spring flower, 216. plan of, 219. seedbox of, 219.

Wild pear, 118.

Wild rose, 33.

Willow, seed appendages of, 61. roots of, 111, 112.

Willow herb, pod of, 58. seeds of, 61.

Wintergreen, leaves of, in winter, 184. berries of, 49.

Witch-hazel, flower of, 63. nut of, 63-65. seed of, 64.

Wood lily, stem of, 105.

Woolly leaves, 172.

Yellow adder’s tongue, an early spring flower, 203, 216. plan of, 219.

Yellow false foxglove, 112, 225, 226.

Yellow violet, 203.