54 Rhodora [Marcu 
The plant seems to spread rather by means of the tuberous root 
system. These tubers are one of the peculiar growths in plant life. 
They are waxy white in color, translucent, and vary in size from 
that of a pinhead to three-quarters on an inch in length. They 
send out slender shoots of variable length. These form new tubers 
at the end, which in turn send out small shoots of their own. These 
secondary tubers become separated from the old ones by the decay 
of the connecting tube and thus a colony is formed. The old tuber 
dies and the new ones begin to store up nourishment and moisture. 
A bud appears at the top and eventually a new plant is formed. 
All this takes time, and a colony found in one place does not reappear 
for seven or eight years. 
B 
Fig. 1. a. Tuber with off-shoots. b, c. Off-shoots develop small tubers. d. 
Young tubers send out off-shoots. e. Young tuber cut off from old one by decay 
of connecting shoot; bud forms. jf-g. Small tubers form. h. Bud begins to grow. 
i. New plant full grown begins to form secondary tubers. Compare with b. 
An interesting experiment proved that the plant is able to withdraw 
the moisture from the tubers in time of drought. A colony of the 
plants was dug up on August 21, 1918, in order to photograph the 
tubers. It was placed on a table inside a building and left without 
