MEMBERS OF PLANTS. 



UNDER the term member, I shall consider the parts 

 of plants which project from the main body, chiefly 

 with regard to their form, leaving their internal struc- 

 ture to be afterwards noticed. The term appendage, 

 often used in modern works, is theoretical and objec- 

 tionable. With few exceptions plants consist of a part 

 below ground, called the root, and a part above ground, 

 which in the greater number of instances is called the 

 stem. 



In describing the members of animals, it is most 

 convenient and natural to begin at the head, but in 

 plants it is usual, and perhaps best, to begin at the 

 root, proceeding from this to the stem and its buds, 

 leaves, branches, and flowers. 



THE root l of a plant performs the two important 

 offices of retaining it in a fixed position, and supplying 

 it with nourishment, being therefore analogous to the 

 limbs and mouths of animals. 



In transplanting trees^ it is accordingly found, that 

 the roots are proportional to the branches, spreading 

 widely in trees planted in an open field, but remaining 



(1) In Latin, Radix or Axis descendcns. 



