20 THE ROOT. 



gradually, as its name implies, from the base or collar, 

 to the point. 



This root is -well exemplified in the carrot, parsnip, radish, and 

 several other culinary vegetables ; it is usually in one root, but 

 occasionally divided. (F. 21.) 



4. The truncated root is that kind which tapers gra- 

 dually like the spindle-shaped, but it terminates abruptly, 

 as if the lower part had been cut or bitten off. 



The devil's-bit scabious, affords a very familiar specimen of this 

 root: the primrose, the valerian, the greater plaintain, and the 

 cowslip, may also be collected as examples ; but you are not always, 

 however, to expect, that when any of these plants are dug up, the 

 root will be found uniformly truncated ; this is only the case, when 

 the plant is above a year old, for during the first year, it is spindle- 

 shaped; after this, it becomes woody, dies and rots, the upper part 

 excepted, and this causes the eroded or bitten-off appearance, while 

 new fibres shoot out from the sides of the part left, and compensate 

 for the want of the old main root. (F. 22 and 25. ) 



5. Fibrous or capillary roots are those which consist 

 of a number of small and thread-like fibres, one of which 

 is generally central and the rest lateral. 



The fibrous root is found in most annual plants and in most grasses. 

 Th%y support the plant, not by their individual strength, but by their 

 number and distribution, elongating in a divergent direction, and 

 rivetting down the plant on all sides. Wheat, barley, oats, and many 

 other plants, display this species of root. (F. 19.) 



6. The ramose or branched root is the most frequent 

 kind; it is generally of a woody nature, and divided 

 into numerous ramifications like the branches of a tree. 



All trees and most shrubs, have this kind of root, consequently no 

 other illustration can be necessary to make it understood. (F. 24.) 



7. Bulbous roots are those which consist of one 



