Linnaeus used the word trunk, as a generic al term for all stem? ; but 

 the plan of considering stems in the present day, is far more correct 

 and applicable. 



2. For the sake of facilitating botanical description, 

 stems have been divided into six sets; viz. trunks, stalks, 

 straws, scapes, fronds and stipes. 



Some botanists likewise include, the leaf-stalk and fon-er-stalk 

 as peculiar stems ; however, as they cannot be called stems, we 

 shall notice them hereafter, as appendages to those parts. 



3. A trunk IB the proper stem of trees and shrubs, 

 and is characterized by its height, size, and woody 

 structure. 



Trunks are always perennial, generally naked at the lower part, 

 and divided and sub-divided towards the summit, into branches and 

 twigs, bearing the leaves and the flower or fructification. 



4. The stalk signifies the stem of herbaceous plants 

 only. It is rarely woody, and lives but for one or two 

 years in the natural state of the plant. 



The cabbage, peony, sun-flower and many other very common and 

 well-known plants, have this particular species of stem. 



6. A straw is the peculiar stem of grasses, rushes and 

 other similar plants. They are either hollow or partially 

 filled with pith, and generally divided into compartments 

 by a species of knot or joint. 



Wheat, barley, oats, rnsh, bull-rush, bog-rush, and cotton-grass, 

 are probably the best examples that can be referred to. 



6. A scape is that kind of stem, which arises from the 

 root and supports the flower, but not the leaf. 



