68 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 



roots that know how to adapt themselves to circumstances and 

 to the plants' advantage is found in the ceriman (Monstera 

 deliciosa) cultivated specimens of which are frequent in con- 

 servatories. This climbing arum produces two types of roots. 

 One set grows out from the stem, like the roots of poison ivy 

 and fastens the vine to its support ; the other depends straight 

 downward and finally enters the soil and secures more food for 

 the plant. The latter roots often reach a length of more than 

 fifty feet before reaching the earth. 



Rapid Growth of Plants. — Sometimes, after a warm 

 spring rain, plants spring up with such rapidity that it is not 

 uncommon to hear it said of them that one can almost see them 

 grow. In high schools and colleges, too, by means of an aux- 

 anometer one can almost see plants grow and if he cannot ab- 

 solutely see the motion, he can in a very short while, by con- 

 sulting the scale, perceive that growth has actually taken place. 

 This is as near as one can easily get in our latitude to seeing 

 plants grow but in some tropical plants it is not very difficult 

 to actually see stems elongate. The bamboo has been known to 

 grew fifty-seven centimeters or nealy twenty-three inches in a 

 single day or at the average rate of a quarter of an inch in a 

 quarter of an hour. Since plants do not grow at a uniform 

 rate throughout the whole day, but have certain maxima in 

 which most of the growing is done, the elongation of the stem 

 at certain hours is doubtless much more than a quarter of an 

 inch in fifteen minutes, a rate that can actually be perceived. 



Scarlet Flowers and Drouth. — It is sometimes said 

 that plants with scarlet flowers stand drought better than oth- 

 ers. The British Gardening World mentions this and says that 

 there are but two scarlet flowers native to England, the poppy 

 and the scarlet pimpernel, both of which giow best in dry and 

 sunny spots. It will not do, however, to reach a conclusion in 

 such a matter without more facts. The two plants with the 



