CALIFORNIA PLANTS IN THEIR HOMES 



holdfast. Sometimes the holdfasts are very large, with 

 many branches. You may have seen them on the beach 

 after a storm. Some are solid instead of branched. If 

 you have tried to pull kelps from the rocks where they are 

 growing, you know that these holdfasts rarely let go. You 

 must either scrape them off with a knife or break the stem ; 

 and how tough they are ! They seem almost like leather. 

 It is no wonder that they can stand so much beating by the 

 waves. 



One kind of kelp common on our coast is called Macro- 

 cystis. No. i, Fig. 2, is a reduced drawing of one end of 

 a branch. Plants several yards long are frequently washed 

 up on our beaches, and travelers tell us that some plants 

 grow a quarter of a mile long. Children often strip off the 

 leaves, and use the stems for skipping-ropes, because they 

 are so strong and flexible. The leaves of this kelp are full 

 of blisters, and at the base of each leaf is a pear-shaped air 

 sac. Can you think out the use to the plant of the blisters 

 and the air sacs? Notice how the new leaves start' at the 

 end of the stem. Do leaves of land plants begin in that way ? 



Fig. 3 is a photograph of one of our red sea mosses. It 

 is often thrown up on the beach during storms, and it is 

 still very pretty after it has been floated out on white paper 

 and dried. Most bright red Algae grow in rather deep 

 water, and so do not get as much light as plants that float 

 near the surface. The red color changes what light they 

 get, so that is most useful to the plant for food-making. 



Of course the ocean plants are in no danger from lack 

 of water. They are sometimes badly torn by storms, but 

 this is not always misfortune. If the pieces happen to 

 reach a favorable place, they grow fast and become new 

 plants. There are crabs that seem to know this fact, for 

 they cut off bits of sea mosses with their claws, and place 

 them on little hooks on their shells. The plants grow 

 there, and hide the crabs from their enemies. 



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