12 BOTANY 
and digests food, indeed, carries out all the functions 
of the individual, and thus is its one and only organ. 
The organs of flowering plants fall naturally into 
two groups, the vegetative and reproductive. To. make 
a general study of these will be the first step, and for 
this purpose it will be necessary to select some common 
plant or plants for examination. Unfortunately there 
is no suitable native plant readily available in all 
parts of the Dominion, and we are therefore compelled 
to fall back on some introduced example to supply the 
material we need. 
Because of its large seed, the fairly typical structure 
of its stem and leaf, the size and distinctness of the 
different parts of its flower, the ease with which it 
germinates and may be raised from seed at any time 
of the year, and above all because it can everywhere, 
without. difficulty, be obtained in _ econsiderable 
quantities, the broad bean plant is chosen for the 
purpose. 
VEGETATIVE ORGANS. 
The vegetative organs are the organs through which 
a plant is related to its environment, in other words, 
through which it makes use of, and has adapted itself 
to the things and conditions by which it is surrounded. 
To take a simple example, the root is the organ by 
which the plant is related to the soil, by means of which 
it is fixed firmly in position, and through which it 
absorbs the water and dissolved minerals with which 
it is in contact. The leaf on the other hand is concerned 
ehiefly with the light and air relation, for it is through 
the leaf and from the air that the plant receives most - 
of its food, which, utilising the energy of the sunlight, 
it builds up into the substances required for develop- 
‘ment and growth. The stem is rather a subsidiary 
organ carrying raw material from root to leaf and 
conducting the substances manufactured there to every 
