414 



ME. F. DARWIN ON THE 



Fig. 1. 



Fig. 1. Boot-bearing shoot produced by a bramble-cutting made from a depend- 

 ing brancb, but placed apex upwards in the jar. B, the cutting ; 

 S, one of its scale-like leaves, in the axil of which the side-shoot is 

 produced; ss, the tuft of scale-like leaves at the end of the side- 

 shoot; s, the similar scales from among which the roots, r, are 

 produced. 



Fig. 2. Boot-bearing side-shoot, produced from the Bramble tied vertically up 

 in damp moss (see p. 412). The main branch has been cut off on the 

 apical side of the shoot, and the leaf from whose axil it grows has 

 been removed. Lettering as in fig. 1. 



Or such cases as the following occur. A bramble-branch, being 

 injured, produced branches from the three most apical buds. Of 

 these one was 123 centims. long, and had developed roots at its 

 apex; then the apex seems to have become unhealthy, for, 

 7 centims. from the end, it had produced a tertiary branch 

 16 centims. long, which also developed roots at its apex. It is 

 probable that in the first-described case the damp and dark 

 situation into which the end of the primary branch had grown 

 caused the side-shoots to assume at once a root-producing cha- 

 racter, while in the other cases the side-branches (like the mam 

 branch) do not produce roots until they have found a suitable 

 situation. 



It is this tendency to produce root-bearing shoots which makes 

 it possible to study the growth of roots in the Bramble by means 

 of cuttings. 



The experiments with cuttings were made according to Vdch- 

 ting's method. Pieces of Bramble, generally about 40 centims. in 

 length, were hung vertically inside tall glass jars. The air was 

 kept damp by a lining of filter-paper, which was constantly mois- 



