6o Plants and their Ways in South Africa 



The Water Path from Root to Leaves.— Water does 

 not pass up to the leaves through all parts of the stem. If a 

 begonia stem is placed in water coloured with red ink, in a few- 

 hours the ink will mark the path it has taken. Cut the stem 

 across and the paths will show as small round dots. They 

 show plainly in pumpkin stems as strong slender threads. 

 These threads are bundles of still smaller tubes or vessels, and 

 so the strands are known as " vascular bundles." Break off a 



Fig. 69. — Leaf of Privet. E, epidermis of upper; Ei, of under surface ; C, cuticle ; 

 P, palisade cells ; V, vascular bundle enclosed in its sheath ; S, stoma, G, guard 

 cell ; Gl, gland. (Erom Farmer's " Practical Introduction to the Studj'' of Botany.") 



violet leaf; the vascular bundles may be drawn out from the 

 broken end. The petioles of plantain or wild sago, which 

 grows along sluits, show the vascular bundles nicely. They 

 may be traced to the veins of the leaves in which they end. 

 They even pass to all parts of the flower. In the strawberry 

 they may be easily seen passing into each " seed " of the fruit. 

 All parts of the plant must be nourished. 



From a woody stem bearing leaves (a willow is good for 

 the purpose), remove a ring of bark down to the wood. Place 



