76 



ACADEMIC BOTANY. 



tree often has 300 of these root-props, which enable its branches to ex- 

 t e n d until they 

 cover a space 2000 . '^S^'*S| 

 feet in diameter,— ' t"";?*" 



large enough to 

 shelter 7000 men. 

 Other adventitious 

 roots are seen in 

 the Imj (Fig. 92), 

 Trumpet Flower, 

 and Poison Su- 

 mach. These serve 

 as supports to the 

 plant in climbing. 

 148. Parasites, 

 as we know (51), 

 not only rest, hut 

 feed upon other 

 plants. The roots 

 of the Bafflesia 

 (Fig. 68) and the 

 Mistletoe (Fig. 65) 



KiQ. 91. — Banyan-trees {Ficus iudica) of Eust India. 



penetrate into the wood of the host, and become 

 so incorporated as to seem a part of it. Usually, however, parasitic 

 roots strike through the bark only far enough to reach the sap between 

 the bark and wood of the host. The Dodder (Fig. 93) is one of our 



common parasites. The plant springs 

 from a seed in the ground ; then, climb- 

 ing to some other plant, — Flax, Clover, 

 Alder, etc., — it sends out adventitious 

 roots, which penetrate the bark of the 

 host. The first root perishes soon ; and 

 the Dodder lives entirely upon its host, 

 twining its pale, leafless, amber threads 

 so tightly that it has the name Love- 

 Vine, or Love-Cord, in the South. The 

 Banyan, like the Dodder, is parasitic 

 from choice. It rarely vegetates in the 

 ground, but chooses the crown of the 

 palm-tree, where its seeds are left by 

 birds. Here it sprouts, and sends roots 

 to the ground, which at the same time 

 embrace the nursing palm and literally 

 suck its life away. 



149. The Stem is the organ of 

 circulation. It bears buds, 

 leaves, branches, flowers. Even 

 acaulescent plants (those without 

 a caulis, or stem, like the Butterwort, Fig. 88) have a 

 short suppressed stem at the surface of the soil ; their leaves 

 are called Radical — root leiaves — because this stem is so 



Fid. 92. Ivy {Hedera Helix) ; plants 

 entire. 



