ROOTS 53 



TTiarrem i^rassj ^rows abunrlantlx- at Hoiirnc- 

 nioiith, and wisliiii;.;' to ascertain how far one ot its 

 iin(lerL;ioiin(l strins (.-xtcndcd, w ilh sonic amount of 

 patience I disinterred about six or seven feet of it 

 in a bank on the sea-shore where it was accessible. 

 As it seemed to ha\e no end, I could not ascertain 

 its entire leni^th. 



Another instance of root growth adaptin^^ itself 

 to situations occurs to me. In visitin*^ the 

 Cheddar Cliffs in Somer.setshire I was struck b}- 

 the beaut}' of a plant which grew here and there 

 out of the crevices of the rocks. Its tufts of \i\id 

 green leaves looked so health)- and \igorous I 

 could not help wondering how it could obtain 

 moisture enougli to produce such foliage, placed 

 as it was high up on the dry face of a rock. 



Trailing to reach its roots in any other wa}', I 

 climbed up to a spot w here I could remove some 

 of the horizontal layers of stone. .At last I lifted a 

 flat piece of rock just above one of those plants, 

 and there I saw at a glance the secret of its 

 vigorous growth. 



The roots had spread out over the surface of the 

 stone for a distance of eiglit or nine inches in a 



