3i6 GLIMPSES INTO PLANT-LIFE 



Wc have already seen how beautifully plants are 

 adapted to the life they have to lead, how they are 

 speciall}' fitted to i^row in some particular place 

 and climate, and now I will ask my readers to 

 study with me certain of the xarjqng habits of 

 plant-life. A typical plant of an ordinary kind 

 grows, of course, in the earth, produces root, 

 stem, and leaves, and finally flowers, which are 

 the origin of fruits and seed ; by the latter the 

 plant is again produced, and by this circular 

 action the continuit)' of that particular plant is 

 maintained. 



Let us now, in imagination, peep into a tropical 

 forest. On its outskirts we shall see the prototypes 

 of our typical plant ; but inside there are also others 

 of quite a different aspect, and the first to attract 

 our attention would probably be the curious orchids 

 perched upon the tree-branches. Their mode of 

 growth differs greatly from that of a normal plant, 

 for they are merely attached to the branches by 

 means of clasping rootlets, which do not in any 

 way extract sap from the tree to which they arc 

 clinging. 



The moisture they need is collected by the leaves 



