stalk represents the radial pole. The connexion between leaf and sphere
is not so clear: in order to recognize it we must appreciate that the
single plant is not a self-contained entity to the same degree as is
the human being. The equivalent of the single man is the entire
vegetable covering of the earth. In man there is an individual centre
round which the bones of his skull are curved; in the plant world the
equivalent is the centre of the earth. It is in relation to this that
we must conceive of the single leaves as parts of a greater sphere.

In the plant, just as in man, the morphological polarity coincides with
the biological. There is, on the one hand, the process of assimilation
(photosynthesis), so characteristic of the leaf. Through this process
matter passes over from the aeriform condition into that of numerous
separate, characteristically structured solid bodies - the starch
grains. Besides this kind of assimilation we have learnt to recognize a
higher form which we called 'spiritual assimilation'. Here, a
transition of substance from the domain of levity to that of gravity
takes place even more strikingly than in ordinary (physical)
assimilation (Chapter X).

The corresponding process in the linear stalk is one which we may call
'sublimation' - again with its extension into 'spiritual sublimation'.
Through this process matter is carried in the upward direction towards
ever less ponderable conditions, and finally into the formless state of
pure 'chaos'. By this means the seed is prepared (as we have seen) with
the help of the fire-bearing pollen, so that after it has fallen to the
ground, it may serve as an all-relating point to which the plant's Type
can direct its activity from the universal circumference.

In order to find the corresponding morphological polarity in the animal