. Foundations of botany. lants. — As will be shown later (Chap-ter XXX), plants live subject to a very fierce competitionamong themselves and exposed to almost constant attacksfrom animals. While plants with long stems find it to their advantageto reach up as far as possible into the sunlight, the cinque-foil, the white clover,the dandelion, somespurges, the knot-grass, and hundredsof other kinds ofplants have foundsafety in huggingthe ground. Any plant whichcan grow in safetyunder the very feetof grazing animalswill be especiallylikely to make itsway in the world,since there are manyplaces wh
. Foundations of botany. lants. — As will be shown later (Chap-ter XXX), plants live subject to a very fierce competitionamong themselves and exposed to almost constant attacksfrom animals. While plants with long stems find it to their advantageto reach up as far as possible into the sunlight, the cinque-foil, the white clover,the dandelion, somespurges, the knot-grass, and hundredsof other kinds ofplants have foundsafety in huggingthe ground. Any plant whichcan grow in safetyunder the very feetof grazing animalswill be especiallylikely to make itsway in the world,since there are manyplaces where it canflourish while ordi-nary plants would be destroyed. The bitter, stemlessdandelion, which is almost uneatable for most animals,unless cooked, which lies too near the earth to be fedupon by grazing animals, and which bears being troddenon with impunity, is a type of a large class of hardy so-called stemless plants, like the dandelion (Fig. 38),and some violets, are not really stemless at all, but send. Fig. 38. • The Dandelion ; a so-calledStemless Plant. STEMS 73 out their leaves and flowers from a very short stem, whichhardly rises above the surface of the groimd. 88. Climbing and Twining Sterns.^ — Since it is essen-tial to the health and rapid growth of most plants thatthey should have free access ^_ ,^/f^^ to the sun and air, it is notstrange that many shouldresort to special devices forlifting themselves abovetheir neighbors. In tropi-cal forests, where the dark-ness of the shade anywherebeneath the tree-tops is sogreat that few floweringplants can thrive in it, theclimbing plants or lianasoften run like great cablesfor hundreds of feet beforethey can emerge into the sun-shine above. In temperateclimates no such remarkableclimbers are found, but manyplants raise themselves forconsiderable distances. Theprincipal means to which they resort for this purpose are : (1) Producing roots at many points along the stemabove ground and climbing on suitable o
Size: 1448px × 1726px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectplants, bookyear1901
