PART I.

ROOT, (Radix.)

The RooT is the descending part of a vegetable which enters the earth or other substance in search of nourishment for the plant.

The Root consists of two parts.

1. Caudex, the body of the root. 2. Radicula, Radicle, the fibre.*

The latter only is necessary, being the part which imbibes nourishment.

Roots are distinguished by their duration, form, &c. I. Duration.

1. ANNUAL, (annua) belongs to plants which perish altogether within a year, the species being continued by means of seeds produced. Ex. Barley.

2. BIENNIAL, (biennis) such plants as are produced from seed either in the spring, summer, or autumn, and living through the ensuing winter produce flower and fruit the following summer and then die. Ex. Carrot,

Radish.

Observation. The term biennial is applied to any plant that is produced one year and flowers another, provided it flowers but once, whether that event takes place the second year as usual, or whether, from unfavourable circumstances, it may happen to be deferred to any future time.

3. PERENNIAL, (perennis) such as live and blossom through many succeeding seasons to an indefinite period. Ex. Trees and many herbaceous plants.

Observation. 1. The herbage is often annual while the root is perennial: such plants are notwithstanding termed perennial. 2. The duration of plants is marked by the following signs Annual, Biennial, Shrubby, 2 Perennial.

*The fibres, particularly their extremities which imbibe nourishment, are in every case strictly annual. After the cessation of their functions in autumn and before their reproduction in the spring, is the time to transplant vegetables successfully.

II. Form, &c.

1. FIBROUS, (fibrosa,) Plate 1, fig. 1. consisting of fibres either simple or branched, which convey nourishment directly to the basis of the stem or leaves. Ex. Many of the grasses, as Poa annua.

Observation. This is the most simple in its nature of all roots, and belongs principally to plants that require but a slight support, such as most annual herbs.

2. REPENT, (repens.) Pl. 1, fig. 2. A creeping root. A kind of subterraneous stem creeping and branching horizontally and throwing out fibres as it goes. Ex. Mint, (Mentha.)

Observation. Plants furnished with a creeping root are multiplied by their roots in such a manner as frequently to occur in beds of greater or less extent.

3. FUSIFORM, (fus formis.) dle-shaped or tapering root, ering downwards to a point. Radish.

Observation.

Pl. 1, fig. 3. A spinthick at the top and tapEx. Carrot, Parsnip,

The fusiform root descends perpendicularly and

throws out fibres or radicles from various parts.

4. ABRUPT. (præmorsus.) Pl. 1, fig. 4. Appearing as if the end was bitten off. Ex. Devil's bit, Liatris. Birdsfoot Violet, Viola pedata.

5. TUBEROUS, (tuberosa.) Pl. 1, fig. 5. of tubers. It is of many different kinds.

Composed

The most

genuine consists of fleshy knobs various in form, connected by common stalks or fibres, as in the Potatoe, Solanum tuberosum.

Species of the Tuberous Root.

1. Twin, (geminata.) Pl. 1, fig. 6.

Consisting of a pair of globular or oval bodies, tubers. Ex. Orchis. 2. Palmate, (palmata.) Pl. 1, fig. 7. Divided into blunt lobes like fingers. Ex. Orchis maculata.

Observation. "Of these globular or palmate knobs, one produces the herb and flowers of the present year, withering away towards

autumn, and the other is reserved for the following season, while in the mean time a third is produced to succeed the latter."Smith

3. Fasicular, (fasicularis.) Pl. 1, fig. 8. When a large portion of tubers proceed from a common centre shooting forth in an elongated form, as in Peony.

Observation. 1. The radicles of tubers originate principally from the stalks and the place of their insertion.

2. Tubers are reservoirs of nourishment, moisture, and vital energy.

3. In most cases a tuber is produced one season, lives through the succeeding winter, and dies the next, after having produced the plant and another tuber or parcel of tubers to succeed it. Thus the herbage is annual, and the root, strictly speaking, biennial, but as it annually reproduces itself and thus is perpetuated, it is termed perennial. Ex Potatoe, (Solanum tuberosum.)

4. The knobs of genuine tuberous roots, such as the potatoe, are studded with buds, in which respect such roots differ essentially from bulbous ones; which last are themselves simple buds and produce their shoots as well as their offsets, either from the centre or from the base.

All perennial roots, which have annual herbage, have buds. The buds in bulbous roots are in the centre, as they are also in many of the spindle-shaped roots In the creeping root they are at its ends; in the tuberous, as has just been observed, scattered over its surface.

6. BULBOUS, (bulbosa) a fleshy root of a bulbous or globular form.

Species of the Bulbous Root.

1. Solid, (solida.) Pl. 1, fig. 9. Of a uniform substance. Ex. Crocus and Tulip.

2. Tunicate, (tunicata.) Pl. 1, fig. 10. Composed of concentric layer: enveloping one another. Ex. Onion, Allium.

3. Scaly, (squamosa.) of fleshy scales connected White Lily.

Consisting

Pl. 1, fig. 11.
only at their base. Ex.

Observation. 1. The two latter kinds have a very close analogy with leaf-buds. They are the reservoirs of the vital powers of the plant during the winter season. They as well as buds contain, in

winter, plants perfect in all their parts in an embryo state; the leaves and the flowers with all their parts may frequently be distinctly dissected out, and the stamens, pistils, &c. counted.

Linnæus arranged both buds and bulbs under the same term, Hybernaculum, winter residence.

2. The radicles are generally from the base of bulbous roots, as in the Onion.

7. GRANULATED, (granulata.) Pl 1, fig. 12. Composed of joints or grains. Ex. Wood Sorrel, Oxalis Acetosella. White Saxifrage, Saxifraga granulata.

Observation 1. It is with roots as with other natural objects, we can apply terms to the most prominent features, while there are so many intermediate points of gradual transition, that we hardly know where to draw the line of distinction. The application of these terms is in many cases arbitrary.

As botanists have in general determined under what head tɔ place the root of every species of plant, we have only to follow them.

2. Specific characters are sometimes taken from the root, and in some cases the specific name also, as Solanum tuberosum, Potatoe; Ranunculus bulbosus, Bulbous Ranunculus, and Ranunculus fascicularis.

PART II.

THE HERBAGE, (herba.)

The HERBAGE consists of the Trunk, Leaves, Buds, and Appendages.

CHAP. I.

TRUNK, (Truncus.)

Linnæus enumerates seven kinds of Trunks, Stems or Stalks of vegetables, caulis, culmus, scapus, peduneulus, petiolus, frons, and stipes.

1. Stem.

STEM, (caulis.) Pl. 2, fig. 1.

Bears or elevates from the root the leaves as well as flowers. Ex. The trunks and branches of all trees and shrubs. A great proportion of herbaceous plants, especially annuals. The stem is described from its duration, composition, mode of growth, shape, &c.

I. Duration.

1. HERBACEOUS, (herbaceus) annual, and not woody. 2. SUFFRUTICOSE, (suffruticosus) belonging to undershrubs.

3. FRUTICOSE, (fruticosus) belonging to shrubs. 4. ARBOREOUS, (arboreus) belonging to trees.

II. Composition.

1. SIMPLE, (simplex) without branches. Ex. White Lily.

2. BRANCHED, (ramosus) giving out branches as in most plants.

3. Two-RANKED, (distichus) branches spreading in two horizontal directions. Ex. Hemlock tree, Pinus Canadensis.