OUTLINES OF BOTANY. xin 



forms the greater part of the plant, but branches near the base, and does not 

 much exceed a man's height ; and Trees {arboreous or arborescent plants) 

 when the height is greater and forms a woody trunks scarcely branching from 

 the base. Bushes are low, much-branched shrubs. 



13. The terms Monocarpic and Caulocarpic are but little used, but the 

 other distinctions enumerated above are universally attended to, although 

 more useful to the gardener than to the botanist, who cannot always assign to 

 them any precise character. Monocarpic plants, which require more than two 

 or three years to produce their flowers, will often, under certain circumstances, 

 become herbaceous perennials, and are generally confounded with them. 

 Truly perennial herbs will often commence flowering the first year, and have 

 then all the appearance of annuals. Many tall shrubs and trees lose annually 

 their flowering branches like undershrubs. And the same botanical species 

 may be an annual or a perennial, a herbaceous perennial or an undershrub, an 

 undershrub or a shrub, a shrub or a tree, according to climate, treatment, or 

 variety. 



14. Plants are usually terrestrial, that is, growing on earth, or aquatic, i. e. 

 growing in water ; but sometimes they may be found attached by their roots 

 to other plants, in which case they are epiphytes when simply growing upon 

 other plants without penetrating into their tissue, 'parasites when their roots 

 penetrate into and derive more or less nutriment from the plant to which they 

 are attached. 



15. The simplest form of the perfect plant, the annual, consists of — 



(1) The Root ; or descending axis, which grows downwards from the stem, 

 divides and spreads in the earth or water, and absorbs food for the plant 

 through the extremities of its branches. 



(2) The Stem, or ascending axis, which grows upwards from the root, 

 branches and bears first one or more leaves in succession, then one or more 

 flowers, and finally one or more fruits. It contains the tissues or other channels 

 (217) by which the nutriment absorbed by the roots is conveyed in the form of 

 sap (192) to the leaves or other points of the surface of the plant, to be elabo- 

 rated or digested (218), and afterwards redistributed over different parts of the 

 plant for its support and growth. 



(3) The Leaves, usually flat, green, and horizontal, are variously arranged 

 on the stem and its branches. They elaborate or digest (218) the nutriment 

 brought to them through the stem, absorb carbonic acid gas from the air, ex- 

 haling the superfluous oxygen, and returning the assimilated sap to the stem. 



(4) The Flowers, usually placed at or towards the extremities of the 

 branches. They are destined to form the future seed. When perfect and com- 

 plete, they consist: 1st, of a pistil in the centre, consisting of one or more 

 carpels, each containing the germ of one or more seeds ; 2nd, of one or more 

 stamens outside the pistil, whose action is necessary to fertilize the pistil or 

 enable it to ripen its seed ; 3rd, of a perianth or floral envelope, which usually 

 encloses the stamens and pistil when young, and expands and exposes them to 

 view when fully formed. This complete perianth is double : the outer one, 

 called Calyx, is usually more green and leaf-like ; the inner one, called the 

 Corolla, more conspicuous, and variously coloured. It is the perianth, and 

 especially the corolla, as the most showy part, that is generally called the flower 

 in popular language. 



(5) The Fruit, consisting of the pistil or its lower portion, which persists or 

 remains attached to the plant after the remainder of the flower has withered 

 and fallen off. It enlarges and alters more or less in shape or consistence, 

 becomes a seed-vessel, enclosing the seed until it is ripe, when it either opens 

 to discharge the seed or falls to the ground with the seed. In popular language 

 the term fruit is often limited to such seed-vessels as are or look juicy and 

 eatable. Botanists give that name to all seed-vessels. 



