. Plants of New Zealand. the mangrove-hen (the weka), and the crabs, are to befound in New Zealand. Life in the Mangrove Swamp. The twisted and gnarled stems and roots give to the tree anunwarranted appearance of age, so that even the youngestmangrove looks old. Barnacles and oysters fix themselvesupon the roots which are uncovered by the withdrawal of thetide ; eels wriggle in and out of their holes, and the mass offibrous rootlets which forms a mat beneath the mud, providesdwelling places for innumerable blue and red crabs. Theseare sought after, not only by the sober-hued wekas, but alsoby
. Plants of New Zealand. the mangrove-hen (the weka), and the crabs, are to befound in New Zealand. Life in the Mangrove Swamp. The twisted and gnarled stems and roots give to the tree anunwarranted appearance of age, so that even the youngestmangrove looks old. Barnacles and oysters fix themselvesupon the roots which are uncovered by the withdrawal of thetide ; eels wriggle in and out of their holes, and the mass offibrous rootlets which forms a mat beneath the mud, providesdwelling places for innumerable blue and red crabs. Theseare sought after, not only by the sober-hued wekas, but alsoby the beautiful kingfishers. A dark-coloured fish, with curiousflexible dental plates, may frequently be seen swimming overthe flats at low tide, so that there is no lack of life in theswamp. THE VEEBENA FAMILY 355 The Boots of the Mangrove. A tree which grows in salt water must, of necessity, have rootsdiffering much from those of a tree growing on land, and theroot structure of Avicemiia, as of all mangroves, is replete. Fig, 116. Mangrove trees, showing aerial roots. with points of interest. Botanically speaking, the root is theresult of the development of the rootlet of the embryo, and itwould seem an easy matter, therefore, to distinguish betweenroot and stem. In many cases it is so, but there are someplants in which the root simulates a stem (v. Metrosideros 356 PLANTS OF NEW ZEALAND robusta, p. 282), and many in which the root produces a result, it is very often difficult to determine whether aplant structure is a root or stem. Ordinarily, the stemproduces shoots bearing leaves, grows upwards, and, especiallyin herbaceous plants, contains green colouring matter(chlorophyll). On the other hand, the root does not usuallyproduce shoots, does not contain chlorophyll, and growsdownwards. These distinctions suffice in most cases, but notin all. Thus, the tuber of the potato is a stem which growsunderground, and its shoots are under ordinary circumstancesreduced to buds
Size: 1557px × 1605px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectplants, bookyear1906
