AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HORTICULTURE. 



495 



STELLARIA (from stella, a star; alluding to the 

 flowers). Starwort; Stitch Grass; Stitchwort. In- 

 cluding Larbrea, Malachium, Micropetalon, and Spergu- 

 lastrum. ORD. Caryophylleas. A genus comprising 

 about seventy species of usually diffuse herbs, broadly 

 dispersed over the globe, seven being natives of Britain. 

 Flowers white, small, in dichotomons cymes ; sepals and 

 petals five, rarely four; stamens ten, rarely eight, five, 

 or three. Leaves narrow or broad. S. media is the 

 common Chickweed. 8. Holostea is one of our early 

 hedge-flowers. The species thrive in ordinary soil, but 

 have little value as garden plants. 



S. graminea aurea (golden grass-like), ft. white, many, iin. 

 to Jin. in diameter ; petals equalling the three-nerved sepals. 

 May to August. I. very narrow, sessile, ciliate, pale golden- 

 yellow. Stem 1ft. to 3ft. long, sub-erect, four-angled. (The 

 green-leaved type is found in Europe (Britain), Siberia, Western 

 Asia to the Himalayas.) A perennial, sometimes used in carpet- 

 bedding. 



FIG. 530. TOP OF PLANT OF STELLARIA HOI.OSTEA. 



S. Holostea (Ilolostea). Adder's Meat ; Greater Stitchwort ; 

 Moon Flower; Satin Flower, Ac. fl. white, iin. to jin. in 

 diameter, on slender pedicels ; petals twice as long as the almost 

 nerveless sepals. April to June. I. sessile, connate, lanceo- 

 late, lin. to 4in. long, acuminate, rigid, ciliated. Stem 1ft. to 

 2ft long, decumbent at base, brittle at the nodes, hairy above. 

 Europe (Britain). Perennial. See Fig. 530. (Sy. En. B. 230.) 



STELLATE. Star-shaped. 



STELLERA (named in honour of G. W. Steller, 

 1709-1746, a celebrated Enssian botanical collector). 

 OBD. Thymelceai-ecB. A small genus (eight species have 

 been described, but not more than six are really dis- 

 tinct as such) of hardy, perennial herbs, sub-shrubs, or 

 shrubs, natives of Central and Western Asia. Flowers 

 hermaphrodite, sessile at the tips of the branches, capi- 

 tate or densely spicate; perianth tube cylindrical, at 

 length cut round above the ovary ; lobes four, rarely 

 five, spreading; stamens eight, rarely ten. Leaves alter- 

 nate, flat. It is doubtful whether the under-mentioned 

 species are still cultivated. Both are perennial herbs, 

 thriving in ordinary soil; they may be multiplied by 

 divisions. 



S. altaloa (Altaian), fl. white ; lobes four ; stamens eight ; head 

 ovoid, ten to fifteen -flowered, at length elongated into an oblong, 



Stellera con tinned. 



leafless spike, about lin. long. July. I. lanceolate or oblong, 

 slightly acute, about lin. long. Stems slender many from the 

 rhizome, erect or ascending, h. 1ft Altai, 1824. 

 S. Cnamsejasme (ground Jessamine). /. white ; lobes five ; 

 stamens ten ; head six to fifteen-flowered. June. I. lanceolate 

 or oblong, slightly acute, five to ten lines long. Stems often 

 numerous from a thick rhizome, slender, h. 1ft. Siberia, 1817. 



That part of a plant which supports the 

 leaves and (in flowering plants) the flowers. It is always 

 present in Vascular plants, though occasionally so ex- 

 tremely ill-developed that the plants are called acaulescent 

 or stemless ; but, in such plants, the top of the so-called 

 root is, in truth, the stem. In the Algae, Fungi, and 

 Lichens there is no real distinction into Stems and 

 leaves, the two being replaced by the thallus. In most 

 plants, the Stem usually rises upwards towards light, 

 contains chlorophyl, is covered with true epidermis, 

 with stomata, and bears leaves and buds at the nodes 

 standing in marked contrast, in all these points, to 

 roots, though exceptions occur to all of the characters 

 mentioned. Stems vary from $in. or less (Centunculus 

 minimus) to 470ft. in height (Eucalyptus amygdalina), 

 and from extreme slenderness (e.g., in Radiola mille- 

 grana) to the enormous trunks of the Sequoias in 

 Western America, whose girth is many yards. 



It would occupy too much space to enter into details 

 of the wide differences in habit met with in Stems, 

 due to variation in thickness, branching (whether with 

 or without a main stem), direction, and many other 

 characters. A reference to the figures under snch head- 

 ings as Agave, Cactus, Coreopsis, Fragaria, 

 Hedera, Pal mm, Finns, &c., will give a better idea 

 of these differences than any brief description could. 



Internal structure of Stems also varies greatly ; but 

 there are two well-marked types in woody Stems, after 

 the first year of growth. The one is characteristic of Di- 

 cotyledons and Conifers, and the other of Monocotyledons. 

 In the former, there is the appearance, in cross-section, 

 of as many rings of wood as the Stem is years old, due 

 to the wood formed in autumn being closer in texture 

 than that of spring, and therefore differing from it in 

 appearance. There is also a well-marked bark, sepa- 

 rated from the wood by a well- developed cambium, or 

 layer, where growth in thickness is effected. In most 

 Dicotyledons there is also pith in the centre of the 

 Stem, and lines of cellular tissue, named medullary 

 rays, run towards the circumference from the girth, and 

 cut the wood into wedge-shaped masses. In the Mono- 

 cotyledons, on the contrary, the Stems, in transverse 

 section, show no appearance of layers, the bundles of 

 woody fibres lying imbedded amongst cellular tissue, in 

 which no separation into pith and bark is observable. 

 In these Stems there are no annual rings, no medullary 

 rays, no cambium, and no true bark ; and the Stem, 

 after it is once formed, does not increase in thickness, 

 but only in length. 



Certain forms of Stems have received special names, 

 of which the following are among the more important: 

 Caudex, applied to the columnar, erect Stems of Palms 

 and Tree-ferns, marked with the bases of the leafstalks, 

 or with their scars ; Culm, the cylindrical, jointed Stems 

 of Grasses and allied plants, which usually have hollow 

 internodes; Scape, a leafless, erect stem, ending in a 

 flower or group of flowers. Decumbent lateral stems, 

 or branches, receive the following names : Runner, when 

 slender, lying on the surface of the soil, and emitting 

 roots at the nodes; Stolon, resembling a runner, but 

 forming erect Stems from the terminal buds, which tend 

 to form new plants ; Offset, a short stolon ; Sucker, an 

 underground stolon. 



Stems are occasionally much modified to serve peculiar 

 functions. Among the most remarkable of such modi- 

 fications are Spines and Tendrils. The former are 

 branches or main Stems that have remained short, but 



