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Sapphire raised her hand and said "sir in an extention to Patricia's question what about cutting away dead leaves doesn't that help?" she asked curiously "as they wouldn't they be taking nutrents they don't really need?" |
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"However, gestation does not always end with a life span. And I would rather explain gestation to its fullest term." He thought a moment, then rummaged in his pocket a bit. Once he found what he was looking for, he brought out a small thing that looked like some sort of glass music box. He slid his thumb across the bottom of the box and a small image was projected over it. It was Natasha Blaylock, his late wife and former Divination professor. Her red locks were as unruly as ever, and her green eyes shone brilliantly. "Now?" The figure asked, seeming to be looking at something. Drago's voice projected from somewhere, "yes, my dear." She cleared her throat a little and began singing. "Let me tell you about the birds and the bees, and the flowers and the trees, and the moon up above, and a thing called Crosspollinaaatiooon! What does a plant need To make a new seed? Three things give flowers Reproductive powers— the sticky pollen, the slender stamen, and pistils make the flower whole. Its like a girl and a boy, Making little bundles of joy, But instead its plants with seeds, its a botanical copulaaaaatioooon!" After she was done she broke down into a fit of laughter, having just barely contained it through the song. "Okay, enough, turn that thing off." "Yes, my dear." The image faded away. Drago took a deep breath, struggling with his composure and looked to the rest of the class. "So, as a refresher, and since you all ought to really learn this if you haven't already, what are the key things mentioned within the song?" |
Astrid sighed, feeling slightly empathetic for their dear professor. She raised her hand slowly and said, "Three things give flowers, Reproductive powers—the sticky pollen, the slender stamen, and pistils make the flower whole. Is that what you were referring to, sir?" |
Torie raised her hand, tears glistening in her eyes. She remembered Professor Blaylock well, and empathized with how the Professor might be feeling right now. "Umm." Torie stopped and cleared her throat before continuing. "The flowers need pollen, which is produced by the stamen, which is considered the male part of the flower. The pistils, or female parts of the flower, contain the ovaries and are fertilized by the pollen brought by the stamen." |
Theo raised his little hand, "What is copulation Sir?" He asked, rather confused. He didn't like learning new words, and especially long ones. |
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"Thank you, sir!" Astrid said happily. She looked over her textbook and said, "I'm not exactly sure what all of this means sir, but this says that..." Quote:
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Anna looked over at Astrid and blinked. What in the world? That just went completely over Anna's head. She shrugged and raised her hand. "Is it that the ovum starts to swell and develop fruit?" she asked. |
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Cale had been listening quietly to the lesson, and blinked when another question was asked. Oh, he knew this one...maybe. He was about to find out. He raised his hand above his curly head. "Well, won't the ovum make a fruit then, or more seed?" he answered. |
Torie blinked at the younger girl's response. 'Wow,' she thought. "That girl must really like herbology.' Torie raised her hand to see if she could clarify the young Gryffindor's response. "What it means is that once the pistil receives pollen, the pollen grows a little tube down into the style of the plant, which is part of the pistil and into the ovary where it joins up with the egg-cells there and begins to grow into a seed, which is also sometimes called a fruit. Over time, the seed will grow until it is ready to be released into the world. This can take a variety of forms. Some plants protect their seeds in cases. For example, a peach pit is the seed of the plant, and the fleshy outside is just used to protect that seed and to encourage animals to help it spread. Pine cones are another type of seed casing, and actually contain many numbers of seeds all in one spot." |
Sapphire raised her hand and read from the book she had just found something from Quote:
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All these long answers where confusing her. She raised her hand. "Then the ovary becomes a fruit. So a fruit is a mature ovary holding the seeds, right professor?" |
He chuckled softly as others looked to him. "Yes, that is all correct. And I am very proud of you all for being able to discuss this and learn amongst yourselves. In fact, I do not mind you becoming a little chatty, so long as you are discussing something within the lesson. I think you all may have described this to each other better than I could have." He smiled as he looked upon each of them. They really had done very well. "There is one thing to keep in mind, everyone: Those of us who are professors in this school are very experienced, and very learned. We may not remember how to describe things in simpler terms. This is why we encourage you to ask questions, and why I encourage you to hold discussions if there is something you do not understand." "I will always try to explain things simply to you, but I am an herbologist first, and a teacher second. And when I have trouble, your fellow students will always be there for you." He smirked. "Now, back to the lesson. I believe to summarize what everyone has said, the flower is pollinated, and the combination of ovum and pollen, the parts of the plant which create new plants, create the seeds. The seeds remain within the ovary, the part that houses the ovum, until the nourishing pod becomes fruit and is eaten, helping to spread the seeds, or the seeds have matured and are released by the pod. If you all wish, I can expound upon this for the next lesson. But we are currently studying the end of life, rather than the beginning." "Now that we know basic purposes, and that some plants do strange things at the end of their life, let's think more about the last attempts of a plant. Many of which do wind up killing it. If you think about it, they do make sense. And one of them truly does. Tell me, in a plant that is not monocarpic, what would be the purpose in putting all its strength into blossoming when it feels its life about to end?" |
Astrid took notes on everything that the professor had just said. She was extremely happy for the explanation, the book confused her so. She raised her hand and asked, "Sir, isn't it just the last attempt at survival for the polycarpic plants." |
Camira raised her hand. "There are two things that I can think of, the first being survival instinct. The plant is going to die for sure if it does nothing, so if there is even a glimmer of hope that blooming might allow it to live by being able to absorb more sunlight, nutrients, etc, it'll do that and put everything it has into that. It's like when humans jump out of burning buildings. They're choosing the less harmful option in hopes of surviving, even though it kills them a lot of the time. The other thing, though I'm not completely sure of, is survival of the species, if you will. Hopefully, if the flower blooms fully, when the plant dies, the flower will fall off and hopefully start a new generation, assuming the flower is one that does not need the assistance of another to complete reproduction, like a bee or something." She hoped that was right. |
Sapphire raised her hand and said "it is for their survival sir i also found this in the book" she read it out " Quote:
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