92 THE BOOK OF NATURE STUDY 



simple chemical composition, is obtained. The close connection 

 between the root-hairs and the particles of soil enables the plant 

 to withdraw water from soils that appear almost dry. The water 

 with its dissolved salts is passed up into the stem and reaches 

 the leaves. 



The shoot differs greatly in appearance from the root. It 

 is composed of two distinct parts, the stem bearing the leaves. 

 The leaves are usually flat and green and of limited growth, and 

 thus differ from the stem, which bears them, both in form and 

 in construction. At the tip of the shoot we find the young leaves 

 closely crowded and folded over the summit of the stem. The 

 actual growing point of the shoot and the youngest developing 

 leaves are thus protected by the older leaves. The whole structure 

 is known as a bud. As the bud unfolds, the regions of stem 

 between the attachments of the leaves lengthen as a rule more 

 or less. The fully grown shoot has thus the leaves attached at 

 certain parts, called nodes, which are separated by intervening 

 regions known as internodes. The shoot branches, that is new 

 lateral shoots like the main shoot, are developed on the latter. 

 In their young condition these are found as lateral buds occupying 

 a constant position with regard to the leaves. Usually a single 

 bud is developed in the angle between each leaf and the stem. 

 This angle is known as the axil of the leaf. Many of these buds 

 may remain of small size, but some grow on into branches. 



The stems of plants are usually more or less cylindrical. The 

 leaves are characteristically thin and flat, with a clear distinction 

 between the upper and lower surface. A number of parts can 

 usually be distinguished in the leaf. The thin flat portion, or 

 leaf-blade, is the most important, and may form the whole of the 

 leaf. Usually the region by which the leaf joins the stem is 

 more or less widened out. This is the leaf -base, which may form 

 a definite sheath encircling the stem. Between the leaf base 

 and leaf-blade there is often a narrower stalk-like region bearing 

 the leaf -blade at a distance from the stem. This is the leaf- 

 stalk. In many but not all leaves there are two outgrowths, 

 one on either side of the leaf -base, known as the stipules. In 

 examining a leaf it is well to bear in mind the possibility of its 

 being differentiated into leaf-base with stipules, leaf-stalk, and 



