1879.] THE GARDENER'S PRIMER. 259 



Vine : the force is so much stronger in the young than in the older 

 rods, that they will be prejudicially affected by their younger relative, 

 until the equilibrium is restored by the flow of sap equally, in the 

 old and new wood, which will probably not be the case during the 

 first year of its growth. The flow of liquid induced by exhalation or 

 evaporation is not necessarily a process of growth, although, like it, 

 it is towards the youngest portions of the plant ; it may go on after 

 the growth of foliage on a tree is completed. 



Each plant has a stem, either above or below the ground (the 

 plumule of the seed elongated), for supporting leaves, buds, or 

 flowers, and through it the liquid-sap absorbed by the roots and the 

 gases absorbed from the atmosphere and decomposed in the leaves 

 circulate through the plant structure. The stem is either simple or 

 branched ; it may be more or less destitute of leaves, as in different 

 species of Cactus, Euphorbia, and Stapelia, where the epidermis acts 

 the part of a leaf. The stem is terminated by a bud (called punctum 

 vegetationis) at every point, consisting of embryo leaves packed 

 closely together, and at intervals on the stem or branch are nodes 

 or joints, from which buds and leaves grow (in Pinks, Carnations, 

 aud Grasses the nodes are very much swollen) \ and the spaces 

 between these nodes are called internodes. 



The stem may be erect (erectus), or procumbent (procumhens), or 

 creeping (repens), or reclining (reclinatus), or arcuate (curved), so 

 as to form part of a circle, as the Bramble ; or clinging to any 

 object for support by fibres, as the Ivy (radicans) ; or climbing by 

 means of tendrils, as the Vine (scandens) ; twining spirally round 

 other plants, as Honeysuckle (volutilis) ; or supple, pliant, whip- 

 like, as Jasmine (flag elli for mis) ; or trailing, as a runner of the 

 Strawberry (sarmentosus) ; straight, as in Lily (rectus) ; two-ranked 

 when branches spread in two horizontal directions (distichus) ; 

 branched, as in the Apple (ramosus) ; proliferous (prolifer), bearing 

 branches on the summit of the others, as in Scotch Fir ; articulate- 

 jointed, as in the Indian Fig family (Opuntia), &c. 



The shape of the stem may be either round, terete (feres) or two- 

 edged, ancipital (anceps) or three-edged or triangular (triquetrous), or 

 square (quadrangular is), or five-sided (quinquangularis), &c. 



The surface (epidermis) of the stem may be either smooth (glaber), 

 viscid (viscidus), warty (verrucosus), papillose (papillosus), rough 

 (scaler), downy (tomentosus), shaggy (villosus), glaucous (glaucus), 

 striated (striatus), furrowed (sulcatus), spotted (macidatus) ; some- 

 times there are states of the epidermis, or attachments to it, produc- 

 ing hairs, glandular hairs, prickles, &c, but thorns are attached to 

 the wood. 



