PLANT HAIRS. 



r.y K. E. STY AX. 



iCoiitiinuil fniiii Pane 24R). 



IV. — {a) Sti-:i,i,atk and [h) Pf.i.tati: 1'i,a\t 



Haiks. 

 As tliL' wiird implies, stellate hairs are raxed aiui 



Stellate Hair^ 



•"runt \ieu . Side \'ie\v. 



I-'UUKE 1. 

 from the Stem and in\ulucral bracts uf 

 Mouse-ear Hau kueed. 

 starlike, though the 

 ra\"s spread out in all 

 manner of strange 

 \\a\s (some of them 

 being simple, others 

 branched into two or 

 more arms) and are 

 \er\- irregularK placed 

 at the tip id the 

 jiedicel from which 

 they spring. So 

 strange are the\- that, 

 when hrst seen under 

 the microscoiie, one 

 finds it hard to realise 

 that such structures 

 are lurirs. Vet the\' 

 are so. and to their 

 presence on a plant is due 

 beaut\" that \se see so clearl)- 

 for tlie\' often grow in such 

 dense masses and are so soft, 

 \\x)f)ll\', silky or scaly that a 

 thick network, '"felt" or 

 " dow n " is formed, and this 

 \\o\en, silverv-white dress, on 

 the surface of many leaves and 

 other plant organs, is some- 

 thing really charming to 

 behold. The wanderer on a 

 lone tract of open salt marsh 

 stands entranced — if he be 

 either botanist or artist — at 

 the glor\- of a mass of Sea 

 WormvNOod, decked in sil\er\ 



Front \'ie\v. 



1-"igci;e 2. 

 Stellate Hairs from the leaf oi White Aral 



much 1)1 the external 

 with the naked eye. 



sheen, glistening in the sunshine, yet equall\' 

 exquisite in shadow . The beauty of this plant lies 

 in its "felt-like"' co\ering, every particle ot which 

 is made up of stellate hairs ! Our garden 

 Lavender (see Figure 3) is covered with a 

 gre\ish " bloom '" b}- which means the foliage 

 forms such a perfect setting for the lilac of 

 the blossoms. Every atom of this '"blocim"" is 

 nothing less than mvriads of charming stellate 

 hairs, branched and simple, springing from 

 the leaf epidermis on short, rather thick 

 pedicels. Some of the rays are long, others 

 short, mid all are more or less sharp-pointed. 

 In the I\-y (see Figure 4) each hair has from 

 three, to nine rays, brancheci or not, and 

 distinctly broad and flat, each ray springing 

 from the top of a long stem. I'igure 2 

 showing illustrations frorn the leaf surface 

 of garden white arabis, brings before us some 

 of the quaintest stellate forms of which it is 

 possible to cc)ncei\e. x\ front view of such a 

 hair has rather the appearance of a set of 

 stag's antlers, \\lnlst a side view looks rather 



like a tree with trunk 

 and branches. If the 

 leaf of .\rabis be 

 examined, its surface 

 will be found to be 

 \er\' rough : this 

 roughness is caused 

 bv the hairs upon it, 

 and it is easy to realise 

 \\h\- the leaf should 

 lie so scabrous when w e 

 tind what remarkable 

 hairs grow all over it. 

 Apparenth' in different 

 plant species the num- 

 ber of rays tin each 

 hair differs to some 

 extent, though taken as 

 a whole the number ranges between three and fifteen. 

 One large natural order of plants, the C"ompositae, 



Side \'ie\v. 



Stellate Hairs from the 

 428 



Front \'ievv. 

 iMCl'i;!-; .1. 

 ■ felt " on the leaf surfaces of Lavender. 



