"It proves," replied Norah, " that the flowers are not vital organs. They have nothing to do with the work of keeping the plant alive.""Quite right," said Fred. "Now let us examine these peas. Here are some in flower. What a pity it is that they wither and die! Just look at this one. The pretty flower-leaves seem quite dried up.
"But don"t let us be in a hurry," he continued.
"Look again. In place of the pretty flower there is alittle green pod. See, here is a larger one, and here is one larger still. Let us pick it and see what there is inside."Norah opened the pod, and saw that it contained a number of little round peas. Fred explained that these are the seeds of the plant.
"The work of the flowers," he added, "is to form these pods with the seeds in them. The seeds, if we left them toripen, would grow next season into new plants. "Teacher says that the flowers, although theyare not vital organs, have a very important work to do. They have to produce the seeds, which will grow into new plants. We call them organs of reproduction."SUMMARY
