4 THE NURSERY-MANUAL 



Every part of the plant which, when removed, is capable of 

 reproducing itself and its parent, may be considered as an 

 entity for purposes of propagation; this potential individual 

 has been called the phyton (Bailey, " Survival of the Unlike," 

 84, 101). 



The phyton, or propagatable part, often detaches itself 

 naturally. Certain willows shed their twigs, and these parts 

 falling in congenial places may grow into new trees. The 

 offsets of houseleeks (hen-and-chickens) detach easily. The 

 bulblets on the stems of tiger-lilies, the "top onions," the 

 aerial tubers of cinnamon- vine and "air potato," the leaves of 

 bryophyllum, the leafy tufts on the fronds of certain ferns, all 

 are naturally separable phytons or vegetative parts, useful 

 in the propagation of the species. In fact, certain spores are 

 asexual, at least not the result of direct sexual union, and are 

 essentially detachable vegetative bodies or cells. 



There are whole ranges of plants that exist in cultivation 

 and are abundantly propagated independently of seeds. Even 

 though the plant produce good seed, the leafy and stem struc- 

 tures may afford the quickest and easiest means of propaga- 

 tion. The class of "bulb plants," represented by the lilies 

 and amaryllis and gladiolus, are of this order. The hop is 

 habitually propagated by cuttings, as are many of the orna- 

 mental trees and shrubs; special varieties of rhododendron 

 and the tree-fruits are multiplied and at the same time pre- 

 served "true to name" by means of grafting; the cranberry 

 is grown from slips; blackberry from root-cuttings; red rasp- 

 berry from suckers; strawberry from runners; many kinds 

 of begonias year after year by cuttings of stems and leaves ; 

 roses generation after generation by cuttings. 



In great numbers of domestic plants, seed-propagation 

 rarely intervenes. The cultivator is so accustomed to this 

 fact that he rightly accepts it as the order of nature. 



