Justify the following statements on the basis of external features:
$(i)$ Underground parts of a plant are not always roots.
$(ii)$ Flower is a modified shoot.

(N/A) $(i)$ Various parts of plants are modified into underground structures to perform various functions,such as stems,leaves,and even fruits.
The stems in ginger and banana are underground and swollen due to the storage of food; they are called rhizomes. Similarly,a corm is an underground stem in Colocasia and Zamin-khand. The tips of the underground stem in potato become swollen due to the accumulation of food and form a tuber. Tubers bear eyes,which are subtended by a leaf scar. Basal leaves in onions become fleshy because of the accumulation of food. In peanuts,the flower after fertilization gets pushed inside the soil by the growth of a flower stalk,where the formation of fruits and seeds takes place.
$(ii)$ During the flowering season,the apical meristem gives rise to the floral meristem. The axis of the stem gets condensed,and the internodes lie very close to each other. Instead of leaves,various floral appendages arise from the nodes. Therefore,it can be said that the flower is a modified shoot.