STORAGE AND TRANSLOCATION 279 



year and then die, store most of their surplus in the seeds. Thus 

 in the cereals, beans, peas, etc., the seeds are especially rich in 

 stored food. During the one growing season as much nourish- 

 ment as possible is conducted to the seeds, at the end of which 

 season the parent plant dies leaving the seeds with a good supply 

 of stored food to carry on the life of the species the next year. 



Biennials live two years before they produce their seeds and die. 

 Since their life is so short, little or no woody tissue is formed. The 

 first winter they die down to the ground, while the underground 

 parts, i. e., the roots, are the organs which live over the winter. 

 The first season these roots are filled with food which furnishes 

 the materials for the aerial organs when favorable growth condi- 

 tions arise the second season. For this reason, the majority of the 

 fleshy roots which man uses for food belong to the biennials. 



The woody plants which live more than two years may store 

 their food in the stems, and, in general, have no specialized 

 storage organs aside from the fruits already mentioned. To be 

 sure, there is always some food stored in the roots and seeds, but 

 these organs are not especially organized for this function. The 

 plants are generally bulky and the stores of food are not noticeable 

 in any one especial place. The trees and shrubs must store during 

 one season enough food to maintain slow respiration, which con- 

 tinues during the winter, and also enough to produce the young 

 leaves and shoots of the next season. Trees like the peach and 

 almond, and shrubs like Jasminum and Forsythia, which blossom 

 early in the spring before the leaves have unfolded, must produce 

 these blossoms from food stored the previous season. If this season 

 has been unfavorable for good growth and for the manufacture of 

 food, it is easy to understand why only a small crop of blossoms 

 may be forthcoming. 



Reproduction and Storage.— The crop of fruit the previous 

 year may also be a great drain upon the food reserves of the plant. 

 Many varieties of apple do not ripen until after the leaves have 

 fallen or ceased to function, with the result that a part of the food 

 used to produce fruit has come from storage supplies. Since 

 a very large crop one year may seriously affect the size of the crop 

 the following year, this may explain the tendency toward a bien- 

 nial production of fruit rather than an annual one, even though 

 this may be counterbalanced to a certain extent by fertilizing 

 and careful cultivation, including thinning and pruning. 



