146 PLANT LIFE 



The hyacinth is by no means necessarily 

 a woodland plant. In many parts of Wales 

 and Scotland it grows amongst the grass in 

 the open fields, wherever it is able to compete 

 with the growing herbage. 



The point which the hyacinth enables us 

 to emphasise is this, that whilst the bulbous 

 (or tuberous) habit is one which will put its 

 owner into favourable relation with certain 

 types of dry climates, it will also, and for 

 analogous reasons, prove an adaptation 

 suitable for other and very different conditions 

 as well, provided that these also include a 

 brief period favourable to the vegetative 

 activity of the plants. 



When the climate is persistently dry the 

 vegetation is usually mixed and consists of 

 plants which are either succulent or spiny. 

 These seem contradictory features, and in a 

 measure so they are. Nevertheless, each 

 habit, that of succulence and that of spininess, 

 is well adapted for dry climatic conditions. 

 The succulent plant stores what water it can 

 get and when it can get it. A remarkably 

 extensive and deep root system is often 

 developed, by which it is enabled to search 

 the ground thoroughly and effectively for the 

 requisite moisture. Moreover, such water as 

 it does acquire is lost very slowly, owing to 

 peculiar features connected with the stomata. 

 The presence of wax or " bloom " also serves 

 as an additional check to the escape of watery 

 vapour. 



