ROOTS AND SPONGIOLES. 



THE ROOT. 



The Root is that strong, underground part of the plant which holds 

 it firmly in its place, as anchors hold ships, and also sucks up water, 

 and transmits it to the stem above. Generally speaking, it consists of 

 two portions, one stout and thick, and more or less branched, called 

 the "caudex ; " and issuing from this, a vast quantity of slender fibres, 

 resembling threads. In small plants the caudex varies from the size 

 of a quill to that of a man's arm, and is dry and \\j,oody, or soft and 

 juicy, like a turnip, according to the use it is designed for. Some- 

 times there is no proper caudex, and the root is fibrous throughout. 

 The caudex of the roots of trees often grows to be nearly as large and 

 massive as the boughs, but in either case the fibres or rootlets are 

 slender and thread-like. The point of every fibre is soft and spongy. 

 It is here alone that water is sucked up, and from this circumstance 

 it is called the " spongible." The reason why flowers hang down 



Fig. 1. Fig. 3. 



their leaves and often die, after being transplanted, especially in warm 

 weather, is, that the spongioles get injured, and many of them broken 

 off, during the process. When a good ball of earth is preserved about 

 them, they sustain no hurt, and the plant will bear removal even on a 

 hot summer's day. Some plants have portions underground which 

 are not roots, as tulips, onions, snowdrops, lilies, and even potatoes. 

 Take, for example, the oniora. The white fibres hanging down under- 

 neath the round and solid part alone are roots. The onion itself is a 

 kind of great underground bud, as shewn by its numerous leafy layers. 

 Underground buds of this description are very common in certain 

 families, and are well known by the name of " Bulbs " or " Bulbous 

 roots." (Figs. 1 and 2.) Potatoes are different again. The Potatoe 



