54. BOTANY 
by the fiercest storm, it is no uncommon thing to see 
numbers of pinus insignis, so plentiful in some parts 
of New Zealand, overthrown, even by a moderate gale, 
especially if from an unusual quarter. 
Growth (Fig. 35). We have seen that when the seed. 
germinates both plumule and radicle grow or become 
larger, and it might be supposed that this growth takes 
place in all parts of each. Take a well-grown bean 
seedling, and, with Indian ink, mark along the stem 
and root lines about a millimetre apart. Now hang the 
seedling with its root in a bottle with a little water 
in the bottom, so that, being in a moist atmosphere, it. 
will not suffer for want of water. After a day or 
two it will present the appearance shown in the 
figure. It appears that the young plant has not erown 
equally in all parts. The marks which are now widest 
apart are those just behind the root tip and those 
nearest the apex of the stem. Thus there are two 
definite regions of elongation, one just behind the 
erowing point of the root and the other just behind 
that of the stem. Here is the meristem. 
The meristem, as indeed practically the whole of 
the plant, is composed of extremely small cells or 
boxes with living contents. In the meristem these 
boxes are being constantly split in two by new walls. 
It is clear that if nothing else happened the new cells 
thus formed would each be only half as large as the 
original cell, and would therefore occupy collectively 
only the same room. But each daughter cell enlarges 
till it becomes ag big as its parent, and in this way 
growth takes place. Thus in the root, the eells which 
are being constantly cut off from the back of the 
growing point enlarge and eause elongation in this 
region. Those that are eut off from the front form 
the root-eap, but there is no elongation here, for, as 
we have already seen, these cells are being continually 
removed by friction. 
