106 OF THE ROOT, 



Securely to so slippery a support, or to mul- 

 tiply the surface or points of absorption in so 

 meagre a source of nutriment. The fibres 

 of some parasitical plants already alluded to, 

 chiefly of the beautiful genus Epidendrwn, 

 are peculiarly thick and fleshy, not only for 

 the purpose of imbibing the more nourish- 

 ment, but also to bind them so strongly to 

 the branches of trees, as to defy the force 

 of winds upon their large and rigid leaves. 



2. Radix repens. A Creeping Root, as in 

 Mint, Mentha. A kind of subterraneous 

 stem, creeping and branching off horizon- 

 tally, and throwing out fibres as it goes. 

 This kind of root is extremely tenacious of 

 life, for any portion of it will grow. Hence 

 weeds furnished with it are among the 

 most troublesome, as the different sorts of 

 Couch-grass, Triiicum repens, Engl. Bot. 

 t. 909. iiolcus mollis^ t.ll 70, &c; while, on 

 the other hand, many sea-side grasses, hav- 

 ing such a root, prove of the most impor- 

 tant service in binding down loose blowing 

 sand, and so resisting the encroachments of 

 the ocean. These are principally Carex are- 



