188 



HUTCHINSON'S POPULAR BOTANY 



(Pinus pinaster), the Common 

 Broom (Cytisus scoparius\ 

 Dwarf Furze ( Ulex nanus) and 

 Marram (Psamma arenaria). 

 These sprout and come up 

 together, the tender shoots 

 of the pine growing well 

 when screened by the other 

 plants. Thus the land is 

 saved. 



The planting of the same 

 grass on the dunes of Cape 

 Cod, in the State of New 

 York, has been practised 

 since colonial days ; and 

 similar conservative measures 

 were ordered by law upon 

 the beaches of Long Island 

 as early as 1758. On the 

 Florida coast, the Bermuda- 

 grass (Cynodon dactylori) has 

 been successfully used in 

 fixing loose sands. Its roots 

 creep to a great distance, 

 with short nattish leaves, 

 sending up flowering shoots 

 a few inches high at intervals, 

 which bear seed and spread. 

 It runs over the sand in zig- 

 zag form, with joints at each 



angle six or eight inches apart, from each of which a root strikes into 

 the ground, soon forming a most effectual network of roots through the 

 loosest sand. 



Roots which issue from the stem, as distinguished from those which 

 result from the development of the radicle, are spoken of as adventitious. 

 We have seen that the roots of Barley are of this description, and it is 

 noteworthy that the greater number of Monocotyledons exhibit the same 

 kind of growth. The well-known Pandanus-trees or Screw-pines, of which 

 there are many species, are remarkable for their adventitious roots, which 

 continue to be given off by the stem long after it has appeared above the 

 ground (p. 242). These aerial roots, which are furnished at their extremities 

 with special cup-like root-caps in which to catch the rain and dew, grow 

 downwards in the air till they reach the ground, when the cups fall oif, and 

 the denuded organs proceed to act in the ordinary manner of underground 



Photo by] IE. Step. 



FIG. 240. FURZE ( Ulex europceus). 



A stiff spiny shrub, often confused with Broom, and sharing the 

 useful fertilizing properties of that plant, but more catholic as 

 regards the soils it grows upon. Except in the seedling stage it has 

 no leaves, which have all been converted into spines. EUROPE, 

 CANARIES, AZORES. 



