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now PLANTS (}I{0\V YKAI{ AFTKR \EAR. 



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they must Imve, in order to bear leaves ; for leaves do not ^row on roots. But 

 what stum they make is so very short-jointed that it rises hardly any ; so that 



the leaves seem to spring' from the top of the root, 

 and all spread out in a cluster close to the ground. 

 As the })lant grows, it merely sends out more and 

 more branches of the root into the soil beneath, and 

 adds more leaves to the cluster just above, close to the 

 surface of the v, arm ground, and weP exposed to the 

 light and heat of the sun. Thus consisting of its two 

 working oi-gans only — root and leaves — the young 

 biennial sets vigorously to work. The mf)isture and 

 air which the leaves take in from the atmosj)here, 

 and all that the roots take from the soil, are digested 

 or changed into Aegetable matter by the foliage while 

 exposed to sunshine ; and all that is not wanted by 

 the leaves themselves is generally carried down into 

 the body of the root and stored up there for next 

 year's use. So the biennial root becomes large and 

 heavy, being a .storehouse of nourishing matter, which 

 man find animals are glad to use for food. In it, in 

 the form of starch, sugar, mucilage, and in other nourisliing nnd savoury products, 

 the plant (expending nothing in flowers or in show) has laid up the avails of its 

 whole summer's work. For what })urposo ? "Jliis plainly aj^pears when the next 

 season's growth begins. Then, fed by this great stock of nouri.shmeut, a stem 

 shoots forth rapidly and strongly, divides into branches, bears flowers abun- 

 dantly, and ripens seeds, almost wholly at the expense of the nourishment 

 accumulated in the root, which is now light, empty, and dead ; and so is the 

 whole plant by the time the seeds are ripe. 



yr. By stopping the flowering, biennials can sometimes be made to live 

 another year, or for many years, or annuals may be made into biennials. So a 

 sort of biennial is made of wheat by sowing it in autumn, or even in the spring, 

 and keeping it fed down in summer. But here the nourishment is stored up in 

 the leaves rather than in the roots. 



72. The Cabbage is a familiar and more striking example of a biennial in which 

 the store of nourishment, instead of being deposited in the root, is kept in the 



