BOTANY, 
in the earth, from which they imbibe nou- 
rishment through their elementary tubes. 
Sea-weeds, however, afford an exception to 
this, for they are nourished by their surface, 
the root serving only to fix them to a con- 
venient spot. 
A root is either annual, biennial, or peren- 
nial. The first kind live but one season, as 
barley ; the second survive ^ne winter, and 
perish at the end of the following summer, 
after perfecting their seed, like wheat ; if, 
however, any circumstances should prevent 
their flowering they may live several years 
till that event takes place. Perennial roots 
are such as remain and produce blossoms 
for an indefinite term of years, like those of 
trees and shrubs in general, and of many 
herbaceous plants whose stems are annual. 
The body of the root is denominated 
caudex ; the fibrous, which is the only essen- 
tial part, radicula. This latter is strictly 
annual in all cases, and is what serves for 
absorbing the nutritious fluids of the soil. 
It is necessary for the botanist as well, as the 
farmer and gardener, to be well acquainted 
with the several kinds of roots, which differ 
materially in their nature aud functions. 
Those of a fleshy nature most powerfully 
resist drought, and are, as Dr. Smith has 
suggested, reservoirs of the vital energy of 
the vegetable. We have, with the permis- 
sion of this gentleman, adopted in the fol- 
lowing pages those leading ideas upon the 
subject before us, which are detailed aud ex- 
exemplified more at length in his “ Intro - 
duction to Physiological and Systematical 
Botany,” to which work we must refer those 
of our readers who wish for more deep in- 
formation than our limits will allow. 
Roots are distinguished as follows : 
1st. A fibrous root, radix fibrosa, consists 
entirely of fibres, as in many grasses, and a 
number of annual herbaceous plants. These 
can but ill bear a continued deprivation of 
moisture or nourishment. The fibres carry 
what they absorb directly to the base of the 
stem. Botany, Plate I. fig. 1. 
and. A creeping root, repens, is a sort of 
subterraneous stem, spreading horizontally 
in the ground, throwing out abundance of 
fibres, as in mint and couch-grass. Weeds 
furnished with such a root are amongst the 
most pernicious, being so difficult to eradi- 
cate. Nature, however, having furnished 
them with so powerful a mode of increase 
is very sparing in the production of their 
seeds. Fig. 2. 
~ r 
3rd. A spindle-shaped root, fusiformis, 
is common in biennial plants, though not 
confined to them. The radish and carrot 
have spindle-shaped roots, producing numer- 
ous fibres for the absorption of nutriment. 
Such roots may be transplanted with great 
safety in the torpid season of the year. 
Fig. 3. 
4th. An abrupt or stumped root, pra- 
morsu, like that of the primrose, is as it 
were bitten off; hence many plants furnish- 
ed with it have obtained the whimsical 
name of devil’s-bit. Fig. 4. 
5th. A tuberous or knobbed root, tube- 
rosa, a very important sort, appears under a 
great diversity of forms. In the potatoe it 
consists of fleshy knobs connected by com- 
mon stalks or fibres; these knobs are bien- 
nial, formed in the course of one season, 
and destined to produce fresh plants the 
following year. This is the case with the 
oval or hand-shaped roots of the orchis 
tribe. Some herbs, indeed, have perennial 
knobs to their roots. Fig. 5. 
6th. A bulbous root, bulbosa, consists of a 
kind of subterraneous bud, being either 
solid, as in the crocus ; tunicate, as in the 
onion; or scaly, like that of the lily. Fig. 6. 
These roots, like the knobs above-mention- 
ed, are reservoirs of nourishment, or rather 
of the vital powers, during the winter. After 
flowering and leafing their herbage and 
fibres decay, and the roots may then be 
removed or kept out of the ground for a 
time without any hazard. When fresh fibres 
are formed it is fatal to disturb them. 
7th. A granulated root, granulata, agrees 
in physiology with the last, being a cluster 
of little bulbs or scales connected by a 
common fibre, as in the white saxifrage and 
wood sorrel. Fig. 7. 
OF BUDS. 
Buds of trees have a great analogy with 
the bulbs and knobs of the roots in herba- 
ceous plants. In them the vital principle is 
latent till a proper season for its evolution 
arrives. For this reason buds are essential 
to the trees or shrubs of cold countries, and 
are formed in the course of the summer in 
the bosoms of their leaves. The plane-tree 
has them concealed in the base of its foot- 
stalk, which answers the purpose of protec- 
tion. In most instances they are guarded 
by scales, furnished with gum or woolli- 
ness as an additional defence. Till buds 
begin to vegetate they very powerfully 
resist cold, and are scarcely known to suffer 
at any season, but it is quite otherwise when 
they have made ever so slight an effort to 
develope themselves. Plants are propagat- 
