”In the life of a plant this principle shows itself most conspiciously
where the green leaf is hightend into the flower. While progressing from
leaf to flower the plant undergoes a decisive ebb in its vitality.
Compared with the leaf, the flower is a dying organ. This dying, however,
is a kind we may aptly call a ”dying into being”. Life in its mere
vegatative form is here seen withdrawing in order that a higher
manifistation of the spirit may take place. The same principle can be
seen at work in the insect kingdom, when the catepillar’s tremendous
titality passses over into the short-lived beauty of the butterfly.
After archieving its masterpiece in the flower, the plant once more goes
through a process of withdrawel, this time into the tiny organs of
fertilization. After fertilization, the fruit begins to swell; once more
the plant produces an organ with more or less conspicuous spatial
extension, this is followed by a final and exstreme contraction in the
forming of the seed inside the fruit, in the seed the plant gives up all
outer appearance to such a degree that nothing seems to remain but a
small, insignificant speck of organized matter…
Yet this tiny, inconspicious thing bears in it the power of bringing
forth a whole new plant.”