256 CONSERVATIVE ORGANS. [LECT. VI. 



gnomy of plants, especially of trees ; and they 

 carefully transferred it to their canvass. Thus 

 you can recognize in their landscapes, as in na- 

 ture, a Poplar, a Willow, the Cedar, an Elm, 

 an Oak, or any other tree ; whereas, the general 

 term trees is sufficient to describe the foliage, 

 which crowds in confused masses the pictures of 

 inferior artists. 



The branches are evident divisions of the 

 principal trunk ; yet, in the majority of in- 

 stances, the stem can be traced, as it rises amidst 

 these divisions, from the base to the apex ; but 

 as it is, also, in some plants entirely lost, Bo- 

 tanists employ distinct terms to designate these 

 opposite states : thus, continuus is used for the 

 former, and for the latter decompositus. The 

 branching of a stem admits of several varieties, 

 each of which requires to be noticed. It is said 

 to be 



a. Slightly branched (subramosus) , when the 

 number of divisions are comparatively few. 



b. Much branched (ramosissimus) , when not 

 only the greater divisions are numerous, but 

 these are again divided and subdivided with- 

 out order * ; as in the Elm, Ulmus campestris ; 

 the Gooseberry-bush, Ribes Grossularia, &c. 



* " Ramosissimus ramis multis absque ordine gravidus." 

 Pkit. Bot. 82. 2. 



