CHAPTER XII 
CLASSIFICATION OF PLANTS ACCORDING TO THEIR 
MODE OF GROWTH 
Tue following grouping is based upon the position of 
the leaves on the stem, and the habit of the stems with 
regard to light : 
I. Terrestrial Plants, rooted in the Soil. 
1. Plants with Cauline (7.e., stem or shoot) Leaves only : 
(a) Plants with erect stems. 
(i.) Annual herbs. 
(ii.) Herbaceous perennials. 
(iii.) Shrubs and bushes, branching freely 
from the ground. 
(iv.) Trees with trunks. 
(b) Plants with prostrate stems. 
(c) Plants with climbing stems. 
(d) Cushion-plants. 
The Cushion-Plant branches freely at the ground-level, 
forming a multitude of short erect stems. Most of the 
leaves are near the extremity of the stems, the leaves 
below being smaller and generally wider apart. Such 
plants may be looked upon as an approximation, through 
xerophytic conditions, to the rosette-form, by the pulling 
down to the ground of long-stemmed plants in such a 
way that the whole plant forms a mosaic of small loose 
rosettes raised only a few inches above the soil. Many 
alpines and some maritime plants form these low cushions 
—é.g., moss-campion (Silene acaulis), mossy saxifrage 
(Saxifraga hypnoides), sea-purslane (Honckenya peploides), 
and mountain-avens (Dryas octopetala). 
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