ROOTS AND THEIR FUNCTIONS 71 
CHAPTER VII 
ROOTS AND THEIR FUNCTIONS 
In order to complete our story of the green 
leaf and its duties to the plant, we must know 
how the water is absorbed into the plant and 
how it is transmitted to the leaves or other 
organs where it is required. 
We might still keep the oak tree before us 
as a concrete example in which to study these 
things, and we should discover that it is only 
by the roots that the tree obtains the water 
it needs, and that these organs absorb it 
directly from the soil in which the tree is 
growing. 
If we attempted to pull the roots out of the 
ground it would be found that, even in a 
seedling tree, the task is not an easy one. 
They penetrate the soil deeply, and ramify 
widely through it. It is easier, therefore, and 
for certain other reasons better, to study the 
roots of a more easily accessible object—say 
a sunflower or any other herbaceous plant. 
On carefully digging out the roots of such 
a plant, we should see that the tips are 
smooth and conical, a shape well suited to bore 
through the soil. Ata short distance behind the 
tip, the root is rather velvety or hairy, and it 
