48 



ELEMENTS OF BOTANY. 



ment during the ■winter (or the rainless season, as the case 

 may be) to secure rapid growth during the active season. It is 



interesting to notice that 

 nearly all of the early- 

 flowering herbs in tem- 

 perate climates, like the 

 crocus, the snowdrop, the 

 spring -beauty, the tulip, 

 and the skunk - cabbage, 

 owe their early-blooming 

 habit to richly stored 

 underground stems of 

 some kind, or to thick, 

 fleshy roots. 



Fig. 33.— Eootstook of a Sedge. 

 The young, advaacing shoot is seen at 

 the left ; in the centre is a cluster of 

 leaves rising above ground ; further 

 to the right similar clusters would be 

 found springing from the same root- 

 stock. 



72. Condensed Stems. — 

 The plants of desert regions 

 require above all protection 

 from the extreme dryness of 

 the surrounding air, and, 

 usually, from the excessive 

 heat of the sun. Accordingly, 

 many desert plants are found 

 quite destitute of ordinary 

 foliage, exposing to the air 

 only a small surface of green rind. In the melon-cactuses, 

 Fig. 38, the stem appears reduced to the shape in which the 



Fig. 34. ■ 



-Koots, liootstocks, 

 of Iris. 



and Leaves 



