AND ITS DlfFERENT KINDS. 107 



naria, Engl. Bot. t. 928, Arundo arenaria, 

 t. 520, and Eli/mus arenariiis, i, 1672. 



3. Radivfnsiformis^f.J' A Spindle-shaped or 

 Tapering Root. Of this the Carrot, Parsnep 

 and Radish are famiUar examples. Such a 

 root is formed, on the principle of a wedge, 

 for penetrating perpendicularly into the 

 ground. It is common in biennial plants, 

 l)ut not peculiar to them. The caudex, 

 which is the spindle-shaped part, abounds 

 with the proper secreted juices of the plant, 

 and throws out numerous fibres or radicles, 

 which are in fact the real roots, as they 

 alone imbibe nourishment. 



4. Badiv pra?7iorsa, f. S. An Abrupt Root, 



is naturally inchned to the last-mentioned 



form, but from some decay or interruption 



in its descending point, it becomes abrupt, 



or as it were bitten off. Scahiom sttccisa, 



Devirs-bit Scabious, Engl. Bot. t. 878, 



Hedypnois hlrta, t. 555, and some other 



Hawkweeds, have this kind of root, the old 



opinion concernmg which cannot be better 



described than in Gerarde's Herbal, under 



the plant first named, p. 726'. 



