?0 



now PLANTS GROW YEAU AFTER YEAR. 



•withering away, which grew in spring by one of its buds to make the stem (b) bear- 

 ing the foliage of the season. This sends out some branches under ground, which 



in the course of the sca- 

 ' ^^^^^ son thicken at the end 



as they receive a stock 

 of nourisluTient prepared 

 by this year's foliage, 

 and become new tubers 

 (c, a forming one ; d, d, 

 well-grown tubers of the 

 season), to live over 

 winter and make the 

 next year's growth. 



75. Because they live 

 under ground, these tu- 

 bers are commonly sui> 

 posed to be roots ; but 

 they are not, as any one 

 may see. Tlieir eyes 

 are buds ; and the little 

 scales behind the eyes 

 answer to leaves ; Avhile 

 roots bear neither buds 

 nor leaves. The fibrous roots which grow from these subterranean branches are 

 very different in appearance from under-ground stems, as is plain to see in the 

 Potato-plant. Fig. 60 shows 

 a few of the real roots, as 

 well as several branches of 

 the stem, with potatoes form- 

 ing in all stages at their tips. 

 Fig. 61 is one of these form- 

 ing potatoes magnified, show- 

 ing a little scale behind each 

 eye which answers to a leaf, 

 magnified, to show that the eye is really a bud, covered with little scales. 



63 

 Solomnn's-Seal. 



Fig. 62 is a part of a slice through an eye, more 



