THORNS THAT ARE LEAVES 
tween rains. They lie dormant, much as the bear does 
when it is snowed in for the winter. This method is dif¬ 
ferent from that of the cactus, which stores water inside 
its trunk, or the yucca, which puts it away in the thick 
ends of its bayonet-tipped leaves. 
The century plant stores water and food in its thick¬ 
ened leaves. When its time to bloom comes, it can draw 
on this stored energy and from it send up a stalk twenty 
feet high and hang out no less than seven thousand 
fragrant flowers. 
75 
