120 
dies, the root below as well as the stem above ground. 
But often the root (or what we usually call the root) 
lives, and sends up a fresh stem the next year. 
But the woody stems live through the winter, and 
put out fresh leaves and branches the next spring. 
Without a magnifying glass, it is difficult to see of 
just what the green stems of the small plants are made 
up; and these you can pass by for the present. But 
if your teacher will cut across the stem of a large rose, 
you can see here an outer covering, the green Skin , 
within this, a zg of woody material; and in 
the center of the stem, a soft white stuff called 
pepren.7 
When we were reading about seed leaves, I 
told you that by the stem and leaves of a plant 
you could tell whether it brought into the world 
more than one seed leaf. 
Now, when a stem like that of the rose is 
divided into three well-defined parts, — the skin, 
or bark, outside; next the woody part; and the 
soft white pith in the middle, —then you can be 
pretty sure that the plant had more than one seed leaf. 
This picture (Fig. 126) shows you a section of a corn- 
stalk. Here you do not see the three parts that were 
so plain in the rose stem, for the woody part is not 
gathered together in a ring: it is scattered through the 
soft part, so that you cannot distinguish the one from 
the other. 
Running lengthwise you see the scattered bundles of 
woody threads, the cut ends of which give the dotted 
look on top. 
