ORGANOGRAPHY AND GLOSSOLOGY. 



47 



each other before they pass into the leaves ; and there- 

 fore supposes that the newest fibres are always nearer 



to the circumference than the old ones, at the bottom of 

 the trunk, but that they cross them as they ascend, and 

 then curve outwards and pass into the leaf (6). 



Those monocotyledonous stems which have no 

 branches, and are supplied with nutriment entirely from 

 the leaves at the summit, continue of nearly equal thick- 

 ness throughout their whole length, as in the lofty palms 

 {fig- 39-)' whose trunks are a long cylinder, crowned by 

 a splendid mass of foliage. But those which are 

 branched, become thicker below than above, as in dico- 

 tyledonous trees. The same may be said of such Mo- 

 nocotyledons as the grasses, whose stems are clothed 

 with leaves throughout their whole length. It has, 

 indeed, been generally asserted that the trunks of many 

 monocotyledonous trees do not increase in thickness 

 after they have risen above the surface of the soil ; but 

 such an assertion does not appear to have received a 

 satisfactory confirmation. It is easier to believe that 

 their increase is very slow, and that the fresh materials 

 are always equally distributed from the top to the 

 bottom the diameter of the terminal bud increasing as 



