FULL-GROWN PLANT AND ITS PARTS 43 
Biennials. When you plant seeds of the turnip, 
radish, beet, carrot, cabbage, etc., a very short stem is 
formed the first season, with a large rosette of leaves 
close to the ground. No 
flowers or seeds are formed 
the first season. But if 
these plants are protected 
from the cold of the winter, 
the following season tall, 
branched stems are formed 
which bear flowers and 
seed. Then the plants die. 
The purpose of these plants, 
also, is to form seed and 
perpetuate their kind. It 
takes two seasons, however, 
to form the seed. Such a 

FIG. 73. Oak, oval type. 
plant we call a biennial. 
The mullein is a biennial. The short stem and the 
roots live during the first winter. 
Perennials. We know that trees and shrubs grow 
for a number of years. All but the evergreens shed 
their leaves in the autumn, or the leaves die. But new 
leaves come forth in the spring. Some of the herbs, 
like larkspur, golden-rod, aster, campanula, etc., pro- 
duce flowers and seed each season. The part of the stem 
above ground dies down at the close of the season, 
