5 ° 
have faded. It will be found that the clusters of branches appear- 
ing above ground spring from a root-like underground stem run- 
ning horizontally at 3 to 6 in. below the surface, and that the true 
roots for absorbing moisture are attached to this and extend 
downwards to a lower stratum of the soil. In like manner the 
bush casuarina (C. distyla) of the sandy scrub sends out under- 
ground shoots which at intervals come to the surface as young 
plants, thus helping in its propagation independently of its 
seeds. The same thing occurs more strikingly still in the Christ- 
mas tree ( Nuytsia floribunda). When this tree becomes broken 
down, as easily happens on account of the brittleness of its wood, 
or succumbs to a bush lire, it frequently occurs that within a 
radius of a few yards from the old tree a large number of young 
bushes have made their appearance, sometimes in a circle, and 
these are found attached to underground shoots given off by the 
old stock at various depths below the surface of the ground. 
These plants illustrate one arrangement by which the 
drought of a long dry summer, and other untoward conditions 
may be overcome ; but there are many other ways in which the 
root system is modified in a special way to retain life in the plant, 
and even at shallow depths in the soil. Such are seen in bulbs, 
tubers, and various forms of swollen roots or underground stems, 
in all of which water is stored up during the Wet season of the 
year, that the germ of the plant may be kept alive through the 
droughty period, to start into active growth again when the 
next rains supply moisture sufficient for the growth of a new plant 
which forms roots and provides a new bulb or succulent organ in 
which water is again stored up. It is not solely in the underground 
portions of plants that this storage of water is effected ; we see 
it also in the stems and branches of plants such as those of the 
Cactaceae and some Euphorbiaceae, giving them quite a peculiar 
character. This type of plant is seen in the most arid regions, 
where only a scanty rainfall over a short period of the year must 
be made the most of for growth and storage, before the hot, dry 
air takes it all back from the ground. Active transpiration is 
not possible in these dry surroundings, and as leaves are not 
required to carry off surplus water they are suppressed altogether 
or reduced to scales or prickles, the stems themselves taking their 
place and performing their functions to the extent required. 
In these plants, and in succulent plants generally, water is stored 
up in cellular tissue set apart for the purpose, to be drawn upon 
when necessary. There are many native plants around us with 
succulent leaves in which water is stored against drought, such 
as the saltbushes, mesembryanthemums (or “ pig-face ”), members 
of the Portulaca family, including the ice-plant, in which water- 
containing cells on the surface of the leaves glisten like particles 
of ice. Some of the lobelias — poisonous plants not uncommon 
with us — frequently have their juices so carefully stored and 
