224 



ABSORPTION OF WATER BY EPIPHYTES. 



7- 7 ...-^ belono-ino- to the Commelynacese, represented on the 



w 



w 

 \ 



y 



IV il.-AH 1.1 K- 1. "ill, „..t I, ,1, , , on the let. Philodmdro,. Lmdtnl. <,n llie rlgln c««p.l.» 2»~"i«. 



coating on their aerial roots. The roots o£ the tree-ferns are short but spring in 

 thou^atds from the thick stem, and are so closely packed that ''- ™ho e surfac 

 clothed as it were by a woven mantle of rootlets. After some tone these aerua 

 roots turn deep brown, whilst the hairs collapse and die, and both are converted 



