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stove by the heat of the fire; and that when this has 
happened, the plant’s food is cooked, and is in condition 
to be eaten. 
But this broth does not lose all its water. There is 
still enough left to carry it back through the leaf into 
the branches and stem, and even down into the root 
once more. 
In fact, the prepared food is now sent to just those 
parts of the plant which most need it. 
Perhaps it is laid up beneath the bark, to help make 
new buds which will burst into leaf and flower another 
year. 
Or perhaps it goes down to help the roots put out 
new branches and fresh root hairs. 
Or possibly it is stowed away in such an underground 
stem as that of the lily, or the crocus bulb, and is 
saved for next year’s food. Once in a while some of 
this prepared food is stored in the leaf itself. 
When a leaf is thick and juicy (“ fleshy,” the books 
call it), we can guess that it is full of plant food. 
Do you recall the Bryophyllum, — the plant we talkes 
about a few days ago? Its wonderful leaves, you re- 
member, gave birth to a whole colony of new plants. 
You may be sure that these leaves had refused to 
give up all the food sent to them for cooking in the 
sun. Youcan guess this from their thick, fleshy look, 
and you can be sure of this when you see the baby 
plants spring from their edges; for without plenty of 
nourishment stored away, these leaves could never man- 
age to support such a quantity of young ones. 
