Personality of plants

PERSONALITY OF PLANTS
pulsive power greater than the blood pressure
of the strongest animal.
Above the roots and the stem of the develop-
ing plant are the branches. Their function is
too well known to need much comment. They
raise the leaves up into the air and the light
They act as conduits for ascending and descend-
ing sap. They give the plant strength and rig-
idity. Each main stem is a clever bit of plant
engineering, so built as to withstand all kinds of
heavy strains and stresses.
The leaves of our seedling are extremely im-
portant parts of its anatomy. Pluck them off
and it will die in a few hours. They are
mouths, stomachs and lungs all in one. Their
surfaces are broad and flat, in order that they
may catch and devour every particle of carbon
dioxide which comes their way. To us,
carbon dioxide is a negligible part of the at-
mosphere, but out of this intangible product
of combustion, arising from fires, breathed out
by animals and expelled by volcanoes and hot
springs, the tallest tree builds its greatest struc-
ture. Is it any wonder that it takes so long!
In the inner tissue of each leaf is a substance
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