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.