ROOT AND CEOWN. 63 



gradually to the long, pendent shoots of the lower 

 branches, where great drops are always to be seen 

 on the ends pointed to the ground. These drops 

 finally make a stream which falls on the earth. 

 The long, pendent shoots of the Larch droop from 

 the outmost point of every branch, and the tree is 

 in the form of a pyramid, so that nearly all the 

 water that falls upon the tree reaches the long 

 shoots that hang down from the lowest, most 

 extended branches. Although the Larch, with its 

 tender needles, does not seem as if it would afford 

 shelter from the rain, nevertheless, the ground 

 under it remains dry, and most of the rainwater 

 falling on it is brought to the circumference of the 

 tree. In fact, it is one of those trees where very 

 little water runs down the main stem ; almost all 

 the rain which reaches it is guided to the rootlets 

 at a certain distance from the trunk. 



Many shrubs and perennial herbs also guide the 

 rainwater to that part of the soil in which the 

 rootlets are embedded, or, to be more precise, the 

 roots, with their delicate fibrils, grow in the direc- 

 tion where the drip from the leaves moistens the 

 ground. Some members of the Arum family are 

 especially striking in this respect. Fig. 10 repre- 

 sents a Caladium. If one of these plants, which has 



