As it emerges from the ground, a young tree seedling is as tender as a blade of grass. Its seed leaves may remain in the shell below the ground, as in oak, or they may be carried above the ground, as in maple. In pine, the seed leaves pull themselves out from the endosperm and spread above the seedling like the crown of a miniature palm tree. On the tip of the little stem, tucked between the seed leaves, is the growing point or terminal bud that gives origin to the shoot; its growth continues as long as the tree lives.
