CHAPTER VIII 
REPRODUCTION 
PLANTS are quite limited in their duration, and before 
they die must provide for establishment of their successors, 
or their species will become extinct. Various means are 
employed by plants for insuring perpetuation, sometimes a 
single plant reproducing itself in several ways. 
LESSON XXIV 
Vegetative propagation 
Materials—Young slips of begonia or geranium; some 
willow branches that have been planted in sand for three 
or four weeks; the rhizome of such plants as Solomon’s- 
seal and the bracken fern; the root-stalk of some “ run- 
ning” grasses, and those of the dandelion, mullein, sour 
dock, etc.; tubers of potatoes; bulblets or “sets” of onion 
or tiger-lily. 
Observation and study.—Remove some of the planted 
slips and note whether roots are developing. If so, where 
do they arise? Sketch. 
Examine the rhizomes to see where new leaves arise and 
whether several new ones may come from one rhizome. 
Make a diagram illustrating the behavior of the root- 
stalk of one of the “ running” grasses. Is a new plant pro- 
duced before the old root-stalk has become dead? Does a 
given root-stalk of a mullein or dandelion persist through a 
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