THE WORK OF ROOTS AND STEMS 67 



because they send out buds which grow into leaf-bearing 

 shoots, while roots cannot do this. But here again the 

 distinction fails. It is commonly true; yet roots are 

 known, though they are rare, which do produce such buds. 



Or again, we may say that a root is under ground 

 and a stem is above ground. Only, as we have just 

 seen, some roots grow in the air. And some plants — 

 especially ferns — have their stems under ground. What 

 you see in a fern is usually not the stem with leaves 

 on it, but the leaves alone. And you might easily 

 take the underground stems for roots. 



These, however, are exceptions. More frequently we 

 do know a root when we see it ; and we seldom make 

 the mistake of supposing a root to be a stem, or a stem 

 to be a root. A botanist knows that the two are quite 

 different in their actual make. 



Have you ever thought how singular it is that the 

 roots should always go creeping under the soil, while 

 the stems always rise upward into air and light — with 

 just those few exceptions ? 



Why should they do so? Why may not the roots 

 sometimes for a change try to come above ground, or 

 the stems once in a while try for a change to go burrow- 

 ing below ground ? We never see this happen, with all 

 the hundreds and thousands of garden-plants and 

 forest-trees known to us. Such a thing is unheard-of. 

 And why ? 



No explanation can be given except that which has 

 been offered before : that it is their nature so to grow, 

 and that He Who gave them life gave also to each its 

 own particular nature and character. 



