But it was possible — she was actually feeling the enjoyment of the creature! She watched, enchanted, as it contentedly flew away listing to the left and right as if drunk on honey wine. Suddenly, Constance bent over and thrust her face into the heart of the exotic blossom. She herself was longing to drink something in. Now she was engulfed in the softness of its petals, vibrating color, and overwhelming fragrance, so much so that it almost bowled her over.
Constance closed her eyes and breathed deeply, again and again. She was drenched in the sensation of being covered in an orangey-yellow substance that “chattered” at her and then felt as if she were flying. She soared upward and suddenly plummeted as her stomach flip-flopped. A moment later she drew in the musty scent of moist vegetation as she passed through a spongy fibrous barrier to enter the glow of a sacred chamber. There she heard fragments of ethereal, courtly music and caught flashes of glowing orbs that danced and merged, exploding with newness. Voices and memories echoed from somewhere inside her.
“Bride. You are Bride…Generation awaits you.”
A floating purple orb encircled her, pressing into her heart. Pursuing. Romancing. Awakening.
A tear dribbled down her cheek.
She didn’t know how long she had stood there drowning in that strange, ravishing flower, but at last, she pulled herself away, stood up, and stepped back from its potent effects.
She had to pull herself together.
Wiping her cheek and turning away, she walked up the steps and into the front door. What had just happened to her?
Constance wondered.
The End
for now…
Wondossary
or
“KEEZE TO WONDER,”
A
GLOSSARY
OF
WACKY WONDER WORDS
Ardor: Passionate love.
Artifex: An Amazing Word to research and explore. Search this One out for yourself.
(see Xartief.)
Bublem Eeb: Why, a Bumble Bee, of course!
Cluine: Nuclei in the plant ovule. These are female reproductive cells. When these cells merge with the sperm cells in Generation, they produce a fertilized egg or plant embryo and its first nourishment. In Wonder The Bride Cluine Orb is the egg cell and the Sisters are the other female reproductive cells.
(see Uveol.)
Dartet: Tetrad. The mature pollen grain. A male part of the plant. In Wonder, the pollen tetrads vocalize about their nifty “sporopollenin” coating as they mature and erupt out of the Microsporangia.
(see Llopen, see Microspangoria, see Tapetum.)
Down and Dig: A fun way to describe the activity of the pollen tubes as they penetrate the stigma and travel down the inside of the style, up into the ovary, and into the ovule to deposit the sperm cells for fertilization/generation.
(see Mistag, see Lyste, see Yorav, see Uveol.)
Enmast: Stamen. The stamen is a male part of the flower. It is a stalk that grows out of the center of the flower and is topped off by an anther. Stamen, filament and anther form the male part of the flower.
(see Raneth.)
Flower: A blossom or a bloom. Flowers are beautiful! They bring us so much pleasure. Flowers are also the reproductive structures of plants. They produce seeds, which are new little plants.
Generation: Generation: The fertilization of the egg cells in the female part of the plant by the sperm cells from the male part of the plant to create a flower zygote or embryo, which is a new little flower alive in each seed!
He and She: He and She: The male and female parts of flower, which are both necessary for reproduction which is generating or creating new life! New life only occurs with the glorious merging of male and female into one another. Imagine the beauty of how this and how YOU were created!
Intention: The thing that is planned. An aim, purpose, or design.
Llopen: Pollen. Pollen is a male part of the plant. It’s a sticky, powdery substance made up of pollen grains. Pollen grains produce the plant sperm cells that merge with the plant egg cells to generate plant embryos, new baby plants!
(see Down and Dig.)
Llopen Tube-slide: Pollen Tubes. These tubes are a male part of the plant. They grow out of the pollen grains and penetrate the stigma of the flower, travel down the inside of its style and into the ovary and up and inside of the ovule to deposit the sperm cells into the egg cells for fertilization/ generation.
(see Stigma, see Style, see Knight/Squire/Lantern, see Generation.)
Llopinator: Pollinator. Pollinators such as birds or insects (like Miss Bublem Eeb!) transfer pollen grains from the male part of a plant to the female part so that fertilization/Generation can take place.
(see Generation.)
Lyste: Style. The style is a female part of the flower. It is generally a tubelike structure. It sticks up in the center of the flower and it is topped off by the stigma. The style connects the stigma to the ovaries of the flower where the ovules or flower eggs are. Pollen Tubes pass down and into the ovaries of the flower through the middle of the style to fertilize the ovules/eggs in what is called generation and this results in a new baby flower hidden in each seed!
All of the female parts of the flower together (the style, stigma and ovary) may be referred to as the pistil. Carpels are individual ovary structures within the flower and there are several of these within each pistil.
(see Mistag, see Llopen Tube-Slide, see Yorav.)
Megaspangorium: Megasporangium. This is a female part of the plant that is located inside the Ovary. The Megasporangium sac is the ovule where the mature egg and sperm cells merge to generate a new flower embyro. The ovule is a chamber inside of which the nuclei divide and produce the mature egg cells of the flower. In Wonder, the Cluine dance, divide, and merge.
(see Yorav, see Cluine, see Uveol.)
Microspangoria: Microsporangia. These are male parts of the plant that are located inside of the anthers. Microsporangia are tubelike structures that produce spores out of which pollen develops. This process involves the activity of tapetum, diploid cells, sporophytes, and a kind of cell division called meiosis. In Wonder the “Microspangoria” sing about this as they produce pollen.
Meiosis: A type of cell division during the production of pollen grains. The “Microspangoria” in Wonder sang about this inside Sir “Raneth.”
(see Micospangoria, see Raneth.)
Mistag: Stigma. The stigma is a female part of the flower that sits on top of the style. The sticky stigma receives pollen — it was the limey landing pad in the story! Then pollen tubes enter the stigma and travel down through the style and into the ovaries of the flower where generation takes place in the ovule.
(see Lyste, see Llopen Tube Slide, see Yorav, see Generation, see Uveol.)
Orbs: A fanciful way to describe the egg and sperm cells, which generate the new plant embryo. In Wonder, these cells/orbs are also called by other names such as Knight, Squire, Lantern, Bride, and Sisters to help describe their unique functions in a fun and simple way.
Raneth: Anther. The anther is a male part of the flower and is the top of the stamen. Pollen is produced on the anther in the Microsporangia.
(see Llopen, see Microspangoria.)
Scent: “The scent…has been sent.” The scent is the fragrance emitted by the flower to draw pollinators to itself. This aroma advertises that yummy nectar and pollen are available.
(see Tenarc, see Llopen, see Llopinator.)
Sporophyte: The diploid spore-producing phase in the life cycle of a plant that exhibits (Diploid) alternation of generations. (That’s just a fancy way of describing the important stuff that happens when pollen is being produced in the anther of a flowering plant. The “Microspangoria” in Wonder sing about this inside “Sir Raneth.”
(see Micospangoria, see Raneth.)
Sporopollenin: A big fat word for the outer wall of the pollen grain.
(see Llopens.)
Tapetum: A specialized layer of nutritive ce
lls found within the Megasporangium, particularly within the anther of flowering plants. The “Microspangoria” in Wonder sang about this inside Sir “Raneth.”
(see Micospangoria, see Raneth.)
Tenarc: Nectar. Nectar is a sugary liquid produced by plants, which attracts and nourishes pollinators.
(see Llopinator.)
Uveol: Ovule. Ovule means “small egg.” Ovules are found in the female part of the plant. An ovule is a sac in which the female reproductive cells develop and are fertilized by the male sperms cells to generate new life. Fertilized eggs are called zygotes or embryos. They are new little living plant lives! They become seeds!
(see Cluine, see Orbs, see Generation.)
Xartief: (see Artifex.)
Yorav: Ovary. A female part of the plant that contains the ovule.
(see Uveol.)
The author recommends:
A video of the Reproductive Cycle of the Flowering Plant:
“The Amazing Lives of Plants”
by Dr. Larry Jensen
Published by McGraw-Hill, a business unit of The McGraw-Hill
Companies, Inc.
1221 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.
Copyright © https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UEpq1W9C_E
Here’s a really cool flower dissection video for older kids so you can see
all the parts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=493WeySyf-8
Here’s a fun flower reproduction video for younger kids:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djPVgip_bdU
And here’s one about seed germination as well:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TE6xptjgNR0
Mrs. Amazing and the Seed Page 14