130 CONSERVATIVE ORGANS. [LECT. IV. 



perience and observations, however, lead me to 



believe that, even in woody plants, the fibrils are 



annual productions. 



Every root may be arranged under one of the 



three following classes, i. SIMPLE ROOTS ; ii. 



BRANCHED ROOTS ; iii. ARTICULATED ROOTS. 



i. The SIMPLE ROOT consists either of a single 



caudex furnished with fibrils only, or of one or 



more rootlets with fibrils*. Considered as a genus, 



it comprehends three species, the conical, the sufr- 



globular, and ihejibrous. 



1. The Conical root (Radix conica) (fig. a) is a 

 a. tapering caudex furnished with lateral 

 fibrils, which are situated chiefly towards 

 its smaller extremity. It is generally a 

 reservoir of nutritious matter which is pre- 

 pared in the leaves, and is the proper juice 

 of the plant, to be exhausted in the pro- 

 duction of the flower and the seed. The 

 change which takes place at the flowering 

 season in culinary roots of this descrip- 

 tion, as for example, in the Carrot, is 

 rendered very evident; by the nutritious 

 matter it contains becoming less saccha- 

 rine, diminishing in quantity, and the 

 whole root acquiring a woody consistence. 



The wedgelike form of the conical root seems to 



* " Simplex qua? non subdividitur." Phil. Bot. 80. b. 3. 



