MODE OF LIFE IN ANNUALS AND lUENNIALS. 



2r 



•e placed, 

 illen Iciif 

 in most 

 low into 

 se mo to 

 shoot of 

 1 l)ud on 

 •ars, / .s- ,. 

 I eve the 

 are also, 

 l>uds on 

 loot of a 

 ry buds 

 no after 

 se buds 



than it 

 3om for 

 st stand 

 B killed, 

 he same 

 n those 

 )lossom. 

 her, on 



wa}' in 

 iration. 

 >nly for 

 ousand 

 on and 



I in our 

 winter. 

 T year, 

 les the 



height of a man. And if they roach this size, it is not as a sin«,'lo main trunk, 

 but by a chisterof stems all startin*,' from the ^'round. 



66. Trees are woody plants rising by a trunk to a greater height than shrubs. 



67. Herbs are divided, according to their character and duration, into Aiitiudliif 

 ^itnnil((l-<, and I'^Tinnials. 



68. Annuals grow from the seed, blossom, and die all in the same season. In 

 this climate they generally spi'ing from the seed in spring, and «lie in the autmnn, 

 (pr sooner if they have done blossoming and have ripened their seed. Oats, liarley, 

 Mustard, and the common Morning-Ulory (Fig. 4) are familiar annuals, l^lants 

 of this kind hnvenf'fiinft roots, /'.<'., composed of long and slender threads or liljres. 

 Either the whole i-oot is a cluster of such libres, as in Indian Corn (Fig. 48), Jiarley 

 (Fig. 56), and all such plants ; or when there is a main or tap root, 

 as in Mustard, the Morning-Glory, See, this branches off into slen- 

 der fibres. It is these fibres, and the slender root-hairs which are 



Ifound on them, that mainly absorb moisture and other things from 



I the soil ; and the more nunu^rous they are, the more the plant can 



I absorb by its roots. As fast as nourishment is received and pre- 



i| pared by the roots and leaves, it is expended in new growth, par- 



Ifticularly in new stems or branches and new leaves, and finally in 



f flowers, fruit, and seed. The latter require a great deal of nourish- 



: ment to bring them to perfection, and give nothing back to the 



4 plant in return. 80 blossoming and fruiting weaken the plant very 



much. Annual plants usually continue to bear flowers, often in great numbers, 



J upon every branch, until they exhaust themselves and die, but not until they have 



■|ri{)ened seeds, and stored up in them (as in the mealy part of the grain of Corn, 



•^&v., Fig. 44, 45) food enough for a new generation to begin growth with. 



•^' 69. Biennials follow a somewhat different })lan. These are herbs which do not 



blossom at all the first season, but live over the winter, flower the second year, 



and then die when they have ripened their seeds. The Turnip, Carrot, and 



parsnip, the Beet, the Eadish (Fig. 57), and the Celandine, are familiar 



examples of biennial plants. 



70. The mode of life in biennials is to prepare and store up nourishment through 

 the first season, and to expend it the next season in flowering and fruiting. Accord- 

 ingly, biennials for the first year are nearly all root and leaves; these being the 

 «^ans by which the plant works, and prepares the materials it lives on. Stem 



Oil 



Fibrous roots. 



