Free The Metamorphosis of Plants by J. W. v. Goethe Page A

truth. As briefly as possible we shall summarize the chief results of the discussion up to this point.
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    When we consider a plant in relation to its vital force, we see this vitality manifesting itself in two ways : first, through vegetative growth, by development of stems and leaves; and next, through reproduction , which is completed in the formation of flower and fruit. If we examine the growth phase more closely, we see that the plant, as it vegetates and progresses from node to node, from leaf to leaf, is likewise carrying on a type of reproduction, which differs from that occurring in fruit and flower in that it is successive instead of sudden, appearing in a series of individual developments. Yet this vegetative force which exerts itself gradually is very closely related to the force which brings about a marked propagation in one step. Under certain circumstances a plant can be forced to vegetate continuously; and on the other hand, its flowering can be accelerated. The former situation occurs when there is a considerable influx of cruder saps, and the latter when more rarefied forces are preponderant.
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    By referring to vegetative growth as a successive reproduction, and to the formation of flowers and fruits as a simultaneous one, we have actually characterized the manner of their development also. A plant which vegetates, is expanding more or less: it develops a stalk or stem, the distances from node to node are usually considerable, and its leaves spread out from the stem on all sides. Conversely, a plant which flowers, is contracting all its parts : increments in length and breadth are arrested, and all its organs, developing in close propinquity, are in a highly concentrated state.
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    Whether then the plant vegetates, blossoms, or bears fruit, it nevertheless is always the same organs, with varying functions and with frequent changes in form, that fulfill the dictates of Nature. The same organ which expanded on the stem as a leaf and assumed a highly diverse form, will contract in the calyx, expand in the petal, contract in the reproductive organs, and expand for the last time as fruit.
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    This process of Nature is at the same time bound up with another, with the assembling of various organs around one central point in fixed numbers and proportions—greatly exceeded and variously modified, however, in some flowers and under certain conditions.
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    Similarly, anastomosis is in operation during the formation of flowers and fruit, closely uniting the compact and extremely delicate parts of the fructification, throughout their existence or for only part of it.
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    Yet these phenomena of approach, centralization , and anastomosis are not peculiar to flowers and fructifications alone; indeed we can observe something similar in the cotyledons, and other plant parts will furnish us with abundant material for similar reflections in the sequel.
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    We have ventured to trace back to the leaf form those fruits in which the seeds are firmly enclosed, just as we sought to show that the organs of the vegetating and flowering plant, though seemingly dissimilar, all originate from a single organ, namely, the leaf, which usually develops at each node.
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    It is self-evident that we ought to have a general term with which to designate this diversely metamorphosed organ and with which to compare all manifestations of its form. At present we must be content to train ourselves to bring these manifestations into relationship in opposing directions, backward and forward. For we might equally well say that a stamen is a contracted petal, as that a petal is a stamen in a state of expansion; or that a sepal is a contracted stem leaf approaching a certain stage of refinement, as that a stem leaf is a sepal expanded by the influx of cruder saps.
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    We may likewise say of the stem that it is an expanded flowering and fruiting phase, just as we have predicated of the latter that it is a contracted stem.
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    Moreover, I have at