Plants and their children

by Frances Theodora Parsons

Would you have guessed that plants were able to prepare their food in any such wonderful way as this? It surprised me very much, I remember, to learn that a root could give out acids, and so dissolve the earth food it needed.

ROOTS AND UNDERGROUND STEMS

In the last chapter you learned that the root of the bean plant has two uses.

It holds the plant in place, and it provides it with food and drink. Such a root as this of the bean plant—one that is made up of what looks like a bunch of threads—is called a “fibrous” root.

The next picture shows you the root of a beet plant (Fig. [109]).

Such a thick, fat root as this of the beet is called a “fleshy” root. The carrot, turnip, radish, and sweet potato, all have fleshy roots.

This beet root, like that of the bean, is useful both in holding the plant in place and in providing it with food and drink.

But the fleshy root of the beet does something else,—something that is not attempted by the fibrous root of the bean.

Here we must stop for a moment and look into the life of the beet plant.