CONCERNING THE ROOT. 
LESSON XXVII. 
CONCERNING THE AXIS OF THE PLANT. 
216. Tae term azis ex- 
presses the central column 
or body of the plant around 
which the branches and 
other organs are arranged. 
As we have already no- 
ticed, the axis grows and 
extends in two directions, 
—upwards and downwards. 
The ascending part is the 
stem, the descending part 
is the root. The former 
loves and seeks the air and 
light, the latter the dark, 
damp bosom of the earth. 
217. The Roor serves the 
twofold purpose of fixing 
the plant firmly in its place, 
and of imbibing the neces- 
sary food from the soil. 
The food when thus im- 
bibed is never in a solid 
Fig. 331. An entire plant (Shep- 
herd’s-parse), showing the axis (a 
tor). The part from ¢ to r is the 
descending axis, or root; frome to a 
the ascending axis, or stem; 4, 4, 
branches, bearing racemes uf flowers 
and fruit. 
