Lily-kin and Rose-kin 127 



we need no microscope to show us its internal 

 structure. We see that there is no separable bark, 

 and that the woody substance is in delicate threads, 

 which are scattered all through the pithy interior, 

 but are most numerous toward the outside of the 

 stalk. The palmetto trunk is built after the same 

 plan, but its woody threads are so tough, and so 

 closely massed together, that they make a material 



FIG. 27. Crosswise section of a palmetto trunk. 



(From the Vegetable World.) 



hard enough to be useful to the cabinet-maker 

 (Fig. 27). 



If we could detach a single woody thread from 

 the corn-stalk, cut a thin, crosswise slice of it, and 

 examine it with a powerful microscope, we should 

 see that it is a compact bundle of small filaments, 

 and that each filament is a row of short tubes or 



