138 



XK\V ZEALAND PLANTS. 



designation having been bestowed on account of its tropical-looking 



habit, for it is not really 

 a palm. 



The trunk plays a 

 most important part in 

 the domestic economy of 

 the tree, sending down 

 deep into the ground 

 what is popularly sup- 

 posed to be a root. This, 

 however, is nothing of 

 the kind, but a deeply 

 descending underground 

 stem, which has the 

 cm ions property for a 

 stem of growing down- 

 wards while the aerial 

 portion of the same trunk 

 grows upwards, as should 

 that of any well-regu- 

 lated tree (fig. 60). Such 

 growing upwards and 

 downwards of stems and 

 roots is regulated by that 

 force we call gravity, 

 which sets in motion the 

 intricate and powerful 

 k> ' machinery ' of the 

 plant, just as a pressure 

 of the hand lets loose 

 that power which causes 

 the mighty locomotive to 

 move backwards or for- 

 wards, as the case may 

 be. The descending stem 

 penetrates the soil for a 

 distance of several feet. 

 giving oft' on either side 



FIG. 60. Underground stem of Cabbage-tree, long cord - like roots, 

 with numerous roots. which, passing outwards 



[Photo, L. Cockayne. 



