he Sweet Potato. 207 
to three-sixteenths of an inch in diameter, prostrate and root- 
ing freely, green, with leaves arranged in two-fifths order. 
Five to twenty such runners come from one root. The 
longer vines, however, usually show more or less fasciation 
at their tips; they vary from a slightly oval cross-section to 
great bands two or three inches wide and about an eighth of 
an inch thick, bearing a dense head of leaves. Less commonly 
the shorter branches are fasciated, and occasionally a flattened 
sprout comes up in the propagating beds direct from the fleshy 
root. As a rule, even the broadest fasciated stem will be 
found round and normal near the parent root, and for three or 
four feet therefrom. Then, tracing toward the tip, the stem 
becomes oval and the phyllotaxy loses regularity ; these con- 
ditions increase, one diameter remaining unchanged while the 
diameter at right angles to it increases until the malformation 
is fully developed, and the leaves are crowded together with- 
out any trace of order. The internal structure of fasciated 
stems is the same as in normal stems, modified only by the 
shape of the cross-section. 
The frequency of fasciation in the sweet potato is shown 
by the following table, giving the condition in five plants 
taken at random: 
Koaearek hel | Length of Branch. Seep Ateaal Mire ah tak Character of Branch. 
} 
2 19 feet. Normal. 
I | 6 feet. Fasciated and crumpled. 
BST nics dots I | 6 feet. Phyllotaxy irregular. 
I 5 feet. | Normal. 
4 | 6-12 inches, | Normal. 
Il { 4 | 8 feet. | Fasciated at tips. 
ape ren tx 6 Less than 8 feet.| Normal. 
III { BV oe AN pt ohchcey ier Fasciated. 
i lest ee Oe | 5 Sie eulte 3 Normal. 
re 9 Nile) Pear Soe ore | Fasciated. 
TN 2s Na ats { ieee A ie Ove ee | Normal. 
Vv {| Bar pw aes Wate Fasciated. 
mae to 9 SD ettomias | Normal. 
