146 WAYSIDB WEEDS. 



perennial ; they are simple and branched, and their 

 structure is very similar to the stem. Many roots, 

 as those of the grasses, composed solely of fibres, are 

 fibrous roots. We will not give you an illustration, 

 for you have only to pull up the first tuft of grass 

 you see to get one. Other roots have, in addition 

 to their fibres, their caudex, or root-stem, which 



Fig. 92. — Boot of Early Purple Orchia : a, eshauated tuber ; 6, fresh tuber ; 

 c, fibres of root. 



may be simple, or branched, or fleshy. Fig. 91, 

 which is the root of one of the sedges, shows a 

 main root-stem, partly branched, from which the 

 rootlets proceed. Fleshy roots, such as the carrot, 

 parsnip, turnip, and radish, have their rootlets 

 attached to the central fleshy caiJflex, chiefly at the 



