In some seedlings the cotyledons will remain for some time within, or partially within the seed, in order that they may continue the absorption of this reserve; and while this process is going on the seed may remain below the surface of the soil, or it may be lifted into the air by the upward growth of the cotyledons themselves. In cases where the cotyledons contain the food reserve for the seedling they sometimes remain under the soil, but in many instances they are pushed into the air by the upward growth of that portion of the plant axis immediately below them. In either case they decay as soon as their work is accomplished. This often happens as soon as they have delivered up to the seedling their reserve of food, but frequently the cotyledons which ascend into the air expand, becoming really leaflike in general appearance, assuming a green colour through the development of chlorophyll (the green colouring matter of plants), and then perform all the functions of the ordinary foliage leaves of the plant. Such cotyledons often continue to exist long after the first foliage leaves have appeared from the bud, for, although the original food reserve has been exhausted, they are now in a position to manufacture, under the combined influence of the sun's warmth and light, compounds essential for their own growth as well as that of the other parts of the seedling. These cotyledons, however, are never of the same form as the true foliage leaves. The student should obtain a variety of seeds or seedlings of our wild plants and forest trees in order to study these interesting early stages. Such employment will prove very valuable at a season when there is but little call for outdoor work. V WOODS AND THICKETS IN SPRING One of our earliest spring flowers of the wood is the lovely Daffodil or Lent Lily (_Narcissus Pseudo-narcissus_) of the order _Amaryllidaceæ_. This plant develops from a bulb--an underground bud formed of thick, fleshy leaves; and the flowers appear during March and April. The perianth is composed of a tube and six spreading limbs of a delicate yellow colour; and a deep, bell-shaped, golden coronet, beautifully notched and curled at the rim. [Illustration: THE DAFFODIL.] During April and May we meet with the beautiful little Wood Anemone (_Anemone nemorosa_--order _Ranunculaceæ_), often in such abundance that the ground beneath the trees is completely covered by its graceful leaves and flowers. The leaves are radical, stalked, and deeply lobed, springing from an underground stem. On the flower stalk, some distance below the flower, is a whorl of stalked bracts of the same form as the radical leaves. The flower has six spreading sepals, resembling petals, usually white, but often tinged with a delicate pink, or, more rarely, with blue. The fruit consists of a number of downy achenes. [Illustration: THE WOOD ANEMONE]