File:Nature neighbors, embracing birds, plants, animals, minerals, in natural colors by color photography, containing articles by Gerald Alan Abbott, Dr. Albert Schneider, William Kerr Higley...and other (14565351509).jpg

Identifier: natureneighborse04bant (find matches)
Title: www.flickr.com/photos/internetarchivebookimages/tags/book...
Year: 1914 (1910s)
Authors: Banta, Nathaniel Moore, 1867- Schneider, Albert, 1863- Higley, William Kerr, 1860-1908 Abbott, Gerard Alan
Subjects: Natural history
Publisher: Chicago, American Audobon association
Contributing Library: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Digitizing Sponsor: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

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efully pre-pared for. It is instructive to notice how differently the so-calledevergreens, as pines, spruces, etc., have answered the prob-lem of protection against the cold of winter. The ever-greens, instead of dropping their leaves, have undertaken toprotect them, giving them a small surface and very heavywalls. In this way protection has been secured at theexpense of working power during the season of work.Reduced surface and thick walls are both obstacles to leafwork. To obtain the most striking instances of protection, how-ever, one must examine plants which belong to permanentlydry regions, such as may be found in the United Statesalong the Mexican border, or in the regions of tropical des-erts. In the first place, it will be noticed that the plants ingeneral produce smaller leaves than in other regions. Thatthis holds a direct relation to the dry conditions is evidentfrom the fact that the same plant often produces smallerleaves in dry conditions than in moist. One of the most
Text Appearing After Image:
Z J MISCELLANEOUS PLANTS 203 striking features of an arid country is the absence of largeleaves. These reduced leaves are of various forms, such asthe needle leaves of pines, or the thread-like leaves of cer-tain sedges and grasses, or the narrow leaves with inrolledmargins, such as are common in many heath plants. Theextreme of leaf reduction has been reached by the cactusplants, whose leaves, so far as foliage is concerned, have dis-appeared entirely, and the leaf work is done by the surfaceof the globular, cylindrical, or flattened stems. A coveringof hairs is an effective sun screen, and it is very common tofind plants of dry regions characteristically hairy. In suchregions it is to be observed also that dwarf growths prevail,so that the plant, as a whole, does not present such an expo-sure to the drouth as in regions of greater moisture. One ofthe most prominent measures of protection in dry regions isthe organization of what are known as water reserv^oirs.Nearly all plants of su

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