LESSON G.] SUCKEP.S, STGLON^ AND OFFSETS, 37 



gives rise to several terms, which may be brielly mentioned : — 

 fiuch as 



Diffuse^ when loosely spreading in all directions. 



Declined, wiicn turned or bending over to one side. 



JDecumbent, reclining on the ground, as if too weak to stand, 



Assurgent or ascendiiKj, when rising obli(iuely upwards. 



Procumbent or prostrate, lying Ihit on tlie ground from the first. 



Creeping, or repent, when i»rostrate stems on or just beneath the 

 ground strike root iis they grow ; as does the White Clover, the 

 little Partridge-berry, &^c. 



Climbing, or scandeut, when stems rise by clinging to other ol> 

 jects lor support, — wliether by tendrils, as do the Pea, Grape- 

 vine, and Virginia Creeper (Kig. 02) ; by their twisting leaf-stalks, 

 as the Virgin's Bower ; or by rootlets, like the Ivy, Poison Ivy, and 

 Trumpet Creeper (80). 



Ticininq , or voluble, when stems rise by coiling themselves spirally 

 around otlier stems or supports; like the Morning-Glory and the Bean. 



87. Certiiin forms of stems have received distinct names. The 

 jointed stem of Grasses and Sedges is called by botanists a culmj 

 and the peculiar scaly trunk of Palms and the like (Fig 47) is 

 sometimes called a caudex. A few forms of branches the gardener 

 distinguishes by particular names ; and they are interesting from 

 their serving for the natural propagation of plants from buds, and 

 for sugg(!sting ways by which we artificially multiply plants that 

 would not propagate themselves without the gardener's aid. These 

 are suckers, offsets, stolons, and runners. 



88. Suckers are ascending branches rising from stems under ground, 

 such as are produced so abundantly by the Rose, Raspberry, and 

 other plants said to multiply '• i)y the root." If we uncover them, 

 we see at once the gn^at difierence between these subterranean 

 iManchi's and real roots. They are only creeping branches under 

 gmund. Remarking how the upright shoots from these branches 

 become separate plants, simply by the dying off of the connecting 

 under-ground stems, the gardener expedites the result by cutting 

 them through with his spade. That is, he propagates the plant " by 

 division." 



89. Stulons are trailing or reclininij branches above ground, which 

 strike root where they touch the soil, and then send up a vigorous 

 shoot, which has roots of its own, and becomes an independent plant 

 when the comiecting part dies, as it does after a while. The Cmnml 



4 



