Plants and their Ways in South Africa 



gigantea, L. /, the "Tondelbloem," has the lower leaves well 

 protected by a dense hairy covering on both sides ; as they get 



older, the hair is easily brushed 

 off. The fragrant oil in some 

 plants is distasteful to animals. 

 Instead of exposing the 

 precious store of water above 

 ground, it is stored by under- 

 ground reservoirs of bulbs, 

 corms, or root tubers which 

 abound in the Karroo. These 

 have often to give up their 

 stores to thirsty natives and 

 travellers. 



Some plants have large 

 bulbs near the surface, or, as 

 in Bowiea, above ground, while 

 others send a long neck deep 

 down into the earth ; at the 

 end, patient digging reveals a 

 small bulb or corm. 



Fig. g%.—Crassula barbata, Th. , with 

 spine-protected leaves and bracts. 



Much of the gardener's labour 

 is in vain which is spent in carefully 

 hoeing up the soil around his onions. 

 Compare the size of onions which 

 have had the earth heaped around them with those which have been cul- 

 tivated leaving their bulbs partially exposed. 



Plants growing in dry places frequently bear their leaves 

 all in one plane, so that one leaf covers the leaf beneath it. 

 Some bulbous plants have the edges of the leaves, instead of 

 their flat surfaces, turned toward the stem, their bases, partly 

 sheathing the bulbs, lead the water down to the roots. Such 

 leaves are called ensiform. 



Every one has noticed the two kinds of leaves borne on 

 the Eucalyptus (Blue Gum). The upper leaves are placed with 

 edges toward the noonday sun. The broad surfaces of the 

 lower leaves receive less light. At sunset, when the light is 

 not so strong, the upper leaves receive it on their broad sur- 



