Publisher's Synopsis
This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1894 edition. Excerpt: ... phanerogams I. angiosperms vegetative organs.--(A) dicotyledons herbaceous type Observations with the Naked Eye I. Some seeds of the Sunflower should be germinated in a pan, and the young seedlings, after forming a few leaves, should be bedded out, and allowed to grow for about three months: examine a well-grown specimen of that age, as a whole. The main axis or stem is stout, herbaceous, and erect: it often develops to a considerable length without branching: it is cylindrical, slightly striated below, while the higher parts of it, where the lateral branches are developed, are polygonal. Its surface is studded by stiff hairs, which are especially obvious on the lower portions of the internodes. The stem bears laterally numerous leaves, which are simple, petiolate, cordate-acuminate, the margin slightly serrate, venation palmate-reticulate, the surface hirsute. The arrangement of the leaves at the lower part of the plant (and including the cotyledons, which wither at an early stage) is opposite, or in whorls of three; higher up, this arrangement merges gradually into the alternate. The stem is terminated by a bud, which may consist only of closely aggregated foliage leaves, or it may inclose the reproductive organs, which are contained in numerous flowers, closely aggregated so as to form a characteristic inflorescence--the capitulum, or head. Similar buds, in earlier stages of development, may be observed in the axils of the leaves (axillary buds). Wash the roots and examine them. They are fibrous, and branch profusely. The primary (tap) root, and earlier developed lateral roots are thicker than the later developed roots of a higher order, the latter being successively thinner. This is due to the fact that the roots undergo a process of...
