George Elliot - The Romance of Plant Life

This property and the power of growing towards water probably explain the mysterious sense of direction alluded to above, for roots will take a line which has not been exhausted by their neighbours. 36

But of all these wonderful properties, the most remarkable is the way in which roots find their way past stones and other obstacles in the soil. They insinuate themselves into winding cracks and crawl round stones with an ingenuity that makes one wonder if they can possibly be without some sort of intelligence.

It is the very tip or end of the young root that seems to be responsible; for if, in the course of its journeyings underground, it should strike a stone or something hard, the root does not grow on and flatten itself.

But some sort of message is sent back from the tip to the growing part which is a short distance behind it. After this message has been received, the growing part begins to curve sideways, so that the tip is brought clear of the obstacle and can probably proceed triumphantly upon its way. The inexplicable part is that the growing part which curves has never been touched at all, but simply answers to the message from the tip. 37

This is perhaps the most reasonable and intelligent behaviour found in the whole vegetable world, and it is not surprising that Darwin compared the root-tip to a brain.

These extraordinary responses fill one with astonishment, but there are others still more interesting and remarkable. It will be remembered that we have already shown how different the soil is at different levels. The subsoil, soil, and uppermost layers are all quite different from one another.

This may explain why it is that many plants seem to prefer to develop their roots at one particular depth below the surface. Not only so, but they find their own favourite level in the most persevering way.

If, for instance, you sow a barley-corn at too great a depth, the seed germinates and forms a few roots, but it immediately sends out a stem which grows upwards towards the light. As soon as this stem has reached the proper place, which is just below the surface, there is an enormous development of roots, which begin to search and explore their favourite stratum of soil. 38

In some few cases one can see in a dim sort of way the reason for the level which certain plants prefer. Thus the underground stems of the common Thistle, which are very long and fleshy, are found just a few inches below the level usually reached by plough or spade. This makes it very difficult to tear them out. Even if grubbers with long spikes which reach as deep as these buried stems are driven through the ground, it generally happens that the stems are only cut in pieces and not dragged up. These hardy weeds are not much injured by little accidents of this kind, for each separate bit will form upright thistle stems next year. In fact if one cuts this fleshy subterranean runner of the Thistle into pieces a quarter of an inch long, each piece will probably become a Thistle.

Sometimes indeed these weeds are carried from one field to another by pieces of them sticking in the very machines which are used to eradicate them.

The Bishopsweed is one of the hardest cases. The writer was once ambitious enough to try to dig up an entire plant of this horrid weed. The first foot or so revealed no sign of the end of the branching runners, and it was not until a hole about four feet deep and five feet across had been excavated that there was any sign of an end to the plant.

When it was at last removed, the original deeply buried stem was found to give off branches which again branched in a most complicated manner, until almost every green shoot of Bishopsweed 39within a space six feet in diameter was seen to be really a branch of this one original plant! So to eradicate the plant it would have been necessary to dig over the whole garden to a depth of at least five or six feet.

How did the stem get down to such a depth below the surface? This is one of the most curious stories in plant life, and the process which we shall now try to describe has only been explained within the last few years. 40

The seed of the Wild Garlic ( Allium ursinum ) lies at first upon the surface of the ground, but it is soon buried by a growth of the stalk of the seed-leaf, which pushes the germ down below the earth. As soon as it is buried, roots are formed and pass obliquely downwards, where they become fixed by forming root-hairs all round themselves. These root-hairs round every root hold its tip firmly in the earth; then these same roots contract or shorten, which of course hauls down the root a little deeper in the earth. One might compare it to a few men hauling down a balloon by ropes attached to the car. About September to November, roots of quite a different character are formed; these explore the surrounding soil and gather in food and moisture.

Then the roots rest during the winter, when the buds and young leaves are being formed. In April the buds begin to push out their leaves and a new ring of roots appear. These April roots are quite different from the September ones. They again fix themselves firmly and then contract, becoming fully a third shorter than they were originally. The bulb is dragged down still deeper below the surface. It flowers in May and fruits in June and July. Then in September the same series of operations begins again. The process goes on until the plant is three to five inches below the ground.

It follows from all this, that every year the roots find new ground to explore and utilize. Nor is the Wild Garlic at all exceptional in this respect. A great many plants have roots which contract and drag the bulb or stem after them deeper into the earth. Something of the same sort happens, for instance, to Bramble branches. They arch or droop over, when growing, so that the end touches the earth. On the underside of the tip, as soon as it begins to rest on the ground, roots are formed. These roots make their way into the ground, and then, when fixed, they shorten or contract, so that the end of the branch is dragged down to a depth of several inches. After this has happened the old branch generally dies away, and a young, vigorous Bramble develops from its buried tip.

Raspberry branches also are often buried; their roots become coiled or rolled in a very curious manner. The end of the root becomes firmly attached in the soil, and then the rest of it revolves like a tendril so as to draw the stem deeper into the earth. 41

On any ordinary roadside in the country one is sure to find the rosettes of the common Dandelion and of the Rats-tail Plantain ( Plantago major ). These are two of the most interesting plants in the world, although they are vulgarly common. How is it that their leaves are always at the level of the ground? The stem is always growing upwards; every year fresh circles of leaves are formed above the older ones. Yet the crown of the stem is never so much raised up above the ground that the toe of a boot would be likely to knock it off. It is always kept so deep in the earth, that it is by no means easy to kick or "howk" the crown out of the ground.

The Dandelion root contracts very strongly at the end of the season, and by this shortening or contraction keeps its leaves just at the soil level. The Plantain sends out about forty to sixty oblique downward-growing roots, which fix themselves in the soil by throwing out branch roots. These forty to sixty roots are at first about ten inches long, but, as soon as they are firmly attached, they contract, and pull the stem with its crown of leaves about one-third of an inch deeper. This is just enough to keep the leaves flat on the ground and to prevent any possible injury from passers-by.

So that in finding their favourite level in the soil, plants are often pulled or hauled about by the roots. But they are not always moved by the roots. Even though buried in darkness, they seem able in some way to tell when they are in the most favourable position.