CULTIVATION AND ANALYSIS OF PLANTS. 
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Cellular tissue , which composes the whole structure of some of the lower orders, 
as mosses, seaweeds and the like, is where the whole mass is made up of these minute 
oval sacs crowded close together. Peculiarly flattened, they compose the outer layer 
known as the skin or epidermis. 
Wood tissue consists of long tubes, tapering and closed at the ends, placed side by side, 
which form in woody plants what is known as wood proper. 
Bast tissue consists of long, flexible tubes, closed at both ends, and is mostly found 
in the liber or inner bark, constituting in hemp and flax the portion of those plants used in 
the manufacture of linen, ropes, etc. 
Vascular tissue consists of long tubes or vessels, formed of superposed cells the par¬ 
titions between which have been absorbed, and comprises what are variously called 
dotted ducts, spiral vessels, annular bands, etc. 
The chief organs of plants are four, viz.: i, Root; 2, stem; 3, Leaf; 4, Flower. 
Each of these is subdivided under different aspects and relations. 
OOTS are the parts by which the plant draws nourishment from the 
soil, and are sometimes supplied with rootlets , holding about the 
same relation to them that they do to the plant. Roots are of six 
l kinds: Fibrous , when composed of tufts of fibers with pores at their 
points, as in common grasses (1*); repent or creeping , as in the 
v) Couch-grass (2); fusiform , or spindle-shaped , as in the Carrot (3); 
premorse (as if bitten off) when the spindle-shape ends quite abruptly, as in the 
K’lf# Plantain (4); tuberous , as in the Potato, where the root comprises one or more 
roundish, solid masses, fed by rootlets from the soil (5); bulbous , where the root 
f ' is one round, solid mass, producing buds from the upper surface and rootlets from 
y the lower, as in the Narcissus (6); the bulbous is, however, sometimes a mass 
of overlapping, fleshy scales, as in the Lily (7), or of concentric coats, as in the Onion. 
Collar. —The collar is that portion of the plant where the root merges into the stem, 
or where they both unite (8). 
In respect of duration, roots as well as plants are designated and defined as follows: 
Allliuals are such as in one season grow from the seeds, blossom, and ripen their 
seeds for the following year, and then perish. Among the annuals are to be found many 
of the most charming of the summer flowers, some blooming for short periods of a week 
or two, and others during the whole season. 
Biennials are such as start from the seed one summer, and spend all their strength in 
establishing their roots and laying up nutriment for the flowerstalks of the following 
year, when they blossom, ripen seed, and* perish, having fulfilled their mission. Some 
very pleasing flowers are found among this class. In order to have flowers of any of the 
biennials every year, seeds must be sown each year, thus calculating a year in advance. 
* The figures inclosed in parentheses, pp. 404 to 410, refer to the illustrations on page 328. 
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