28 



FIRST STUDIES IN PLANT LIFE 



v.— THE EOOT.— Pabt III. 



1. We must now look at a number of roots of 

 different plants, and try to find out the various 

 root-plans. 



2. Tap-roots and Fibrous roots. In plants like 

 the dandelion, we find a distinct tap-root and many 

 small side-roots. This tap-root is just the first root 

 become large. It has grown straight down and grown 

 much thicker than any of the side-roots. In many 

 plants the tap-root is not so clearly seen as in the 

 dandelion, and in some roots, indeed, you cannot find 

 a tap-root at all. Where all the roots or many of the 

 roots are slender, as in the wheat plant, the root is 

 called a fibrous root. 



