re 



PLANT STUDIES 



emerge 'with 

 great rapidity, 

 and trees b e- 

 come covered 

 witli new foliage 

 in a few days. 

 T'rGin the sub- 

 terranean stems 

 tlie aerial parts 

 c o m e up so 

 sjoeedily that tlie 

 surface of the 

 ground seems to 

 bo covered suddeidy with young vegetation. Tliis sudden 

 change from comparative rest to great activity has been 

 well spoken of as the "awakening" of vegetation. 



A potiito plant, showing the subterranean tubers. - 

 After Strasburuer. 



C'. Stems hearing flural leaves 



.54. The flower. — The so-called 

 "fl(jwers'' which certain })lants 

 produce rejiresent another type of 

 slioot, Ijeiug stems witli j^eculiar 

 leaves. So attractive are flowers 

 that they have been very much 

 studied ; and this fact lias led 

 many people to l>elieve that flowers 

 arc the only j)arts of jilants worth 

 studying. Aside from the fact 

 that a great many plants do not 

 ])roduce flowers, even in those 

 tliat do tlie flowers are connected 

 with oidy OIK! of the ])lant pro- 

 cesses, that of rejiroduction. 

 Every one knows that flowers are 

 exceedingly variable, and names 



Flo. i;s. Tlie roolstiiek of Solo- 

 mon's seal ; from the under side 

 roots are developed ; and on the 

 upper side are seen the scars 

 wllieh mark the positU)ns of the 

 successive aerial brandies which 

 bear the leaves. The advanc- 

 ing tip is i»rotected by scales 

 (forming a bud), anil the posi. 

 tions of previous buds are in- 

 dicated by groups of ring-like 

 scars which mark the attach- 

 ment of former scales. Advanc- 

 ing in front and dying behind 

 such a rootstock may give rise 

 to an indefinite succession of 

 aerial plants.— After Gray. 



