Plants at work
During the warm summer months all the plants work to stay alive and to
make new life. Their roots take in water. Their leaves make food. Their
flowers make seeds.
As the seeds grow, the flower petals wither away and drop off. Soon,
nothing is left of each flower but the little swelling where the seeds
are growing.
As the warm days pass, the swellings begin to change. They become
something different on each kind of plant. They become berries, or nuts,
or other kinds of fruits. Inside the fruits are the seeds.
These seeds must now go traveling. Some will float through the air on
leafy wings or silky parachutes. Others have spikes that catch hold of
an animal’s fur. Some will be dropped in far places by birds and animals
that ate the fruits the seeds were in. In each seed a tiny new plant
waits to begin its life next spring.
When the plants make their seeds, it’s a good time for the animals. Many
of the seeds and berries and pods and fruits are good to eat. The
animals that sleep during winter can now fatten up for their long nap.
Others can fill their underground houses with food for the winter.
