XIV 
INTRODUCTION. 
side. They therefore spring from the nodes (13), — points which are some¬ 
times strongly marked, as in a Reed or Grass-stem, but are often indicated 
only by their bearing a leaf, and sometimes a bud or a branch in its axil. 
The branches may again branch in a similar manner, and so on indefinitely. 
The latest and smaller ramifications are termed Branchlets. 
28. From the duration of the stem, vegetables are distinguished into, 
1. Herbs, where the stem does not become woody and hard, but dies down 
to the ground at the close of the growing season, or after fructification: 
2. Undershrubs, which have low, branching stems, with a woody and per¬ 
manent base : 3. Shrubs, which have woody stems, lasting from year to 
year, usually branching from the base, and not exceeding five times the 
height of a man: and 4. Trees, in which a single main trunk attains a 
greater height. Adjectively, stems of the first kind are termed herbaceous ; 
of the second, rather shrubby ; of the third, shrubby; while a tree-like shrub 
is said to be arborescent. 
29. The peculiar, jointed stem of Grasses and Grass-like plants is called 
a Culm. 
30. A stem or branch which is too weak to stand upright, but partly 
reclines or trails on the ground, is termed decumbent , or if entirely trailing, 
procumbent, prostrate , or i-unning , or if it strike root from the under side as 
it advances, creeping. The precise application of various terms of direc¬ 
tion may be sought in the Glossary. 
31. A climbing stem is one that clings to neighbouring objects for sup¬ 
port, and rises by such aid, whether by tendrils (38), as the Vine (p. 86), 
and Gourds (p. 144), by twisting leaf-stalks, as the Virgin’s-Bower (p. 4), 
or by aerial rootlets, as in the Ivy, &c., already mentioned (24). 
32. A twining or voluble stem climbs by coiling itself spirally, as the 
Morning-Glory (p. 348). 
33. A Stolon is a branch, the apex of which curves or falls to the 
ground and strikes root there, so as to acquire an independent existence by 
natural layering. Plants which spread or multiply in this way are said to 
be stolonifervus. 
34. A Sucker is a branch which springs from a main stem under 
ground, where it early strikes root. 
35. A Runner is a prostrate, slender or thread-like branch, springing 
from near the surface of the soil, and striking root and producing a tuft of 
leaves (and consequently a new plant) at its apex ; as in the Strawberry. 
36. An Offset is a short and thick runner ; as in the Houseleek. 
37. A Spine or Thorn is an imperfectly developed, hardened and sharp- 
pointed branch, either simple, as in the Cockspur-Thorn, &c. (p. 128), or 
compound, as in the Honey Locust (p. 112). 
38. A Tendril is a thread-like, leafless branch, often coiling spirally, 
by which many climbing plants fix themselves (31). But some tendrils be¬ 
long to a leaf-stalk, as those of the proper Pea Tribe (p. 91). 
39. There are likewise subterranean modifications of the stem, which 
from their position are popularly mistaken for roots, — such as 
40. The Rootstock or Rhizoma, a term which is applied in a general 
way (especially in this volume) to all the subterranean, elongated, root¬ 
like forms of stems or branches, especially to such as were called “creep¬ 
ing roots ” by the older botanists. It is usually horizontal, sending off roots 
from the unper side or the whole surface, and advancing from year to year 
(being always perennial) by the growth of the bud at its apex. It is further 
distinguished from a root by being marked with the scars or scaly bases 
of leaves, which roots, being never leaf-bearing, are entirely destitute of. 
41. A Tuber is a portion of a subterranean stem, which is thickened by 
