52 STRUCTURE < >F THE ROOT 



with n>"t hairs for absorption. Within the epidermis is a broad 

 zone of cells, the cortex, often used for the storage oi manufac- 

 tured foods, while in the center of the stem are the vascular 

 bundles. The wood) portion of the bundle, or xylem, radiates 



36. Cross-section of root taken above section shown in Fij 

 <•, epidermis with runt hairs; c, cortex bounded on inner side by endo- 

 dermis, end. Within i*- the central region containing vascular bundles; 

 .r, xylem; p, phloem.— I. 1). Cardiff. 



outward from the center and the soft portion, or phloem, alter- 

 with it ( Fig. 36, r. /m. The materials absorbed from the 

 s<.il are largely transported u\> to the stem and leaves through 

 the xylem, and the foods manufactured by the leaves reach the 

 rool b) mean- of the phloem cells. The branches of the root 

 originate in a very curious way from the cells just outside the 

 xylem. These cells 1>> repeated divisions form lateral roots which. 

 graduall) dissolve the tissues in their way and finally grow out 

 tn the surface of the root 1 Fig. 37). I'.\ this arrangement they 

 are provided with a root cap and fully prepared to enter th< 

 on emerging from the <>ld n«>t. 



25. The Transport of Water in the Root. The inner layei of 

 the cort< \. the endodermis 1 Fig. 36, etui), consists of a layi 



cells which, in the older |»art "t the i""t-. forms a \er\ compact 



