. Elements of botany. Plants. THE STRUGGLE FOR EXISTENCE. 207 respiration take place. Some of the more or less spherical cacti of the dry and treeless plains of the West contain so much stored-up water that men and animals cut or tear them open for the sake of drinking from their pulpy interior. Arctic plants are sheltered from the savage storms of winter by their habit of clinging to the ground : the Arctic willow, for example, Fig. 185, is only a few inches high. 249. Defenses against Attacks of Animals. — Some seeds are bitter or otherwise unpalatable, others poisonous, and still others so
. Elements of botany. Plants. THE STRUGGLE FOR EXISTENCE. 207 respiration take place. Some of the more or less spherical cacti of the dry and treeless plains of the West contain so much stored-up water that men and animals cut or tear them open for the sake of drinking from their pulpy interior. Arctic plants are sheltered from the savage storms of winter by their habit of clinging to the ground : the Arctic willow, for example, Fig. 185, is only a few inches high. 249. Defenses against Attacks of Animals. — Some seeds are bitter or otherwise unpalatable, others poisonous, and still others so hard as to be utterly uneatable. The entire plant is often protected from herbivorous quadrupeds, snails, or destructive insects by the same safeguards which are found in seeds. Walking through a pasture, one may fiud clumps of buttercups, tansy, ragweed, boneset, dog- fennel, smartweed, or ox-eye daisy ^ which cattle and horses in general will not touch because they are so bitter, pun- gent, or ill-smelling. Three of the weeds that flaunt them- selves most generally in barn- yards in the Middle States are dog fennel, Jimpson (James- town) weed, and smartweed. The two former are nauseating to the smell and taste; the Jamestown weed is violently poisonous, and the smartweed has a savagely biting Fig. 186.—Thorny Branches of Broom. ^ These species would not all occur in any cue pasture, but they are types, and some of them range widely over the Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original Bergen, Joseph Y. (Joseph Young), 1851-1917; Bergen, Joseph Y. (Joseph Young), 1851-1917. Bergen's Botany: key and flora, Pacific coast ed. Boston : Ginn
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectplants, bookyear1896
