Read Online The Metamorphosis of Plants by J. W. v. Goethe - Free Book Online
Authors: J. W. v. Goethe
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may be: we have traced the outward form of the plant in all its transformations—from the development out of the seed until the seed is formed once more—and, without wishing in arrogance to probe the hidden springs of impulse in Nature's operations, we have directed our attention to the outward manifestations of those powers through which the plant, step by step, transmutes one and the same organ. In order not to abandon the thread once taken up, we have all the time been considering only annual plants. We have simply observed the transformation of the leaves which accompany the nodes and from them have deduced all varieties of form. All that now remains to be done, in order to give this attempt its necessary completeness, is to speak of the eyes which lie hidden beneath each leaf and develop under certain circumstances while under others they seem completely to disappear.
C HAPTER XIII
EYES AND THEIR DEVELOPMENT
85
Every node has by nature the power to produce one or more eyes. They appear close to the accompanying leaves, which seem to prepare and to help their formation and growth.
86
On the successive development of one node out of another and on the formation of a leaf at every node and an eye close by it, rests the first simple, slow process of growth by which vegetable life is propagated.
87
It is well known that such an eye is very like a ripe seed in its working, and that often in the eye, more easily than in the seed, the entire form of the future plant may be recognised.
88
Even though the point at which the root will be developed is not so easily detected in the eye, yet it is there, just as it is in the seed, and develops quickly and easily, especially under the influence of moisture.
89
The eye does not need cotyledons, because it is connected with the parent plant which, now completely organised, provides sufficient nourishment as long as this connection lasts. After separation the bud is nourished either by the new plant on which it has been grafted, or by means of the roots which it forms immediately when planted in the soil.
90
The eye consists of nodes and leaves in a more or less developed condition, destined to enlarge and expand the growing plant.
In effect, the side twigs which sprout from the nodes may be regarded as distinct little plants, growing on the parent plant just as the latter grows in the earth.
91
The comparison of seed and eye has so often been made, and especially quite recently, with such penetration and exactitude, that we can but appeal to this work with unqualified approbation.
92
We will only state the following: In highly organised plants nature makes a clear difference between eyes and seeds. In more simply formed plants, however, this difference no longer seems apparent, even to the most acute observer. There are seeds which are undoubtedly seeds, and eyes which are undoubtedly eyes, but it is only possible to conceive, and not in any outward way to see, where the line of demarcation lies between properly fertilised seeds, separated from the parent plant by the reproductive process, and propagative buds which simply push their way out from the parent plant and separate from it without any apparent cause.
93
Having weighed this well in our minds we may venture to think that seeds, though they differ from eyes by being completely enclosed, and from propagative buds by the visible cause of their formation and separation from the parent plant, are yet closely related to both.
C HAPTER XIV
FORMATION OF COMPOSITE FLOWERS AND FRUITS
94
We have so far tried to explain by the transformation of the stem-leaves, the formation of single flowers and also seeds produced within a closed capsule. Closer examination will show that in these instances no eyes are developed; indeed there is absolutely no possibility for such a development to take place. To understand the composite flower however, as well as the compound fruit gathered around a single cone, spindle, dies or the like, we
C HAPTER XIII
EYES AND THEIR DEVELOPMENT
85
Every node has by nature the power to produce one or more eyes. They appear close to the accompanying leaves, which seem to prepare and to help their formation and growth.
86
On the successive development of one node out of another and on the formation of a leaf at every node and an eye close by it, rests the first simple, slow process of growth by which vegetable life is propagated.
87
It is well known that such an eye is very like a ripe seed in its working, and that often in the eye, more easily than in the seed, the entire form of the future plant may be recognised.
88
Even though the point at which the root will be developed is not so easily detected in the eye, yet it is there, just as it is in the seed, and develops quickly and easily, especially under the influence of moisture.
89
The eye does not need cotyledons, because it is connected with the parent plant which, now completely organised, provides sufficient nourishment as long as this connection lasts. After separation the bud is nourished either by the new plant on which it has been grafted, or by means of the roots which it forms immediately when planted in the soil.
90
The eye consists of nodes and leaves in a more or less developed condition, destined to enlarge and expand the growing plant.
In effect, the side twigs which sprout from the nodes may be regarded as distinct little plants, growing on the parent plant just as the latter grows in the earth.
91
The comparison of seed and eye has so often been made, and especially quite recently, with such penetration and exactitude, that we can but appeal to this work with unqualified approbation.
92
We will only state the following: In highly organised plants nature makes a clear difference between eyes and seeds. In more simply formed plants, however, this difference no longer seems apparent, even to the most acute observer. There are seeds which are undoubtedly seeds, and eyes which are undoubtedly eyes, but it is only possible to conceive, and not in any outward way to see, where the line of demarcation lies between properly fertilised seeds, separated from the parent plant by the reproductive process, and propagative buds which simply push their way out from the parent plant and separate from it without any apparent cause.
93
Having weighed this well in our minds we may venture to think that seeds, though they differ from eyes by being completely enclosed, and from propagative buds by the visible cause of their formation and separation from the parent plant, are yet closely related to both.
C HAPTER XIV
FORMATION OF COMPOSITE FLOWERS AND FRUITS
94
We have so far tried to explain by the transformation of the stem-leaves, the formation of single flowers and also seeds produced within a closed capsule. Closer examination will show that in these instances no eyes are developed; indeed there is absolutely no possibility for such a development to take place. To understand the composite flower however, as well as the compound fruit gathered around a single cone, spindle, dies or the like, we
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