62 STEM. 



Herbaceous, having a tender substance, which usually dies every year ; in 

 some cases when the root lives more than one year, the stem is annual ; as in 

 the tulip; Woody, as in the o^ak ; Soli d, like the box ; Pithy, as the elder; Hol- 

 low, as in the onion ; Corky, as in the cork ; or Pulpy, as in the cactus or 

 prickly pear. 



The stem with respect to its direction, or mode of growth, is 



Perpendicular, or erect, forming a right angle with the ground, as the Pink ; 



Procumbent, lying down ; 



Oblique, when it is neither perpendicular nor horizontal ; 



Creeping, as one species of Ranunculus ; 



Reclining, curved towards the ground as the Blackberry ; 



Radical, clinging to some other body for support, by means of fibres which 

 do nol imbibe nourishment ; as the common Creeper ; 



Climbing, either with spiral tendrils for its support, as the Vine, or by adhe- 

 sive fibres ; 



Twining, winding in a spiral manner around other plants, as the Hop ; 



Trailing, a creeping stem destitute of flowers, thrown out from the root and 

 giving rise to another plant where it takes root, as the Strawberry. 



Stems as to shape, are, 



Terete or cylindrical, long and round ; as in the rose and lilac, and in most 

 of the woody and herbaceous plants ; 



Comprefsed, more or less flattened on the sides ; 



Anceps, two edged ; 



Triangular, three edged ; 



Quadrangular, square, or four sided ; 



Pentagonous, five sided. If the number of angles is either variable, or more 

 than five, the stem is said to be angulosus, or angled. 



The surface of the stem may be, 



Glabrous, smooth, destitute of hairs or glands ; 

 Polished, the surface equal and smooth : 

 Pubescent, covered with hair, or glands resembling hairs; 

 Villuse., shaggy, covered with long soft hairs ; 

 Pilose, hairs long and distinct : 



Tomentose, hairs short and closely matted together, like cotton or down ; 

 Hispid, bristly, hairs stiff; 

 Scaly, covered with membranous scales ; 



Imbricated, stem concealed by leaves, which sit close like shingles on the roof 

 of a house; 



Viscid, covered with a clammy juice ; 

 Papillose, cov. rod with soft points or tubercles; 

 Scabrous, rough to the touch ; 

 Hoary, as if frosted ; 



Meaty, (glaucus,) of a sea-green mealiness, which easily rubs off; 

 Stridted, r m&rked w ith parallel longitudinal lines. 



The stem is either simple, or divided into branches. The 

 branches are parts, of the plant which proceed immediately 

 from the trunk ; the divisions of the branches arc called branch- 

 lets ; a diminutive appellation, which means a little branch. 

 These parts resemble, in their formation, the trunk or stem, 

 which furnishes them ; the branch may be considered as a 

 tree, implanted upon another tree of the same species. 



Branches sometimes grow without any apparent order in 



Stems with respect to hardness Direction Shape- Surface divisions 

 Disposition of branches. 



