104 
taken out of the ground and eaten by us before the 
plant has had the chance to use up its food in fulfilling 
its object in life, that of fruiting. 
Of course, when it is not allowed 
to live long enough to flower and 
fruit, it brings forth no young 
plants. So a habit which at first 
was of use to the plant becomes 
the cause of its destruction. 
Perhaps you think that the 
white potato (Fig. 110) is a plant 
with a fleshy root. 
Fic. 110 : . 
If so, you will be surprised to 
learn that this potato is not a root at all, but 
a stem. 
You think it looks quite unlike any other 
stem that you have ever seen. Probably you 
do not know that many stems grow under- 
neath the ground, instead of straight up in 
the air. 
If you find something in the earth that you 
take to be a root, you can feel prete 
Fic; eri 
sure that it really is a stem, if it bears 
anything like either buds or leaves. A 
true root bears only root branches and 
root hairs. But in this white potato 
we find what we call “eyes.” These eyes 
are buds from which new potato plants 
FIG. 112 
will grow. Close to these; are little 
scales which really are leaves. So we know that the 
potato is a stem, nota root. But this you could not 
