40 



STEMS. 



[section 6. 



plants, simply by tlie dying off of the connecting under-ground stems, tlic 

 gardeuer expedites the result by cutting them through with his spade. 

 That is, he propagates the plant " by division." 



95. A Stolon is a branch i'rom above ground, which reclines or becomes 

 prostrate and strikes root (usually from the nodes) wherever it rests on the 

 soil. Tlience it may send up a vigorous shoot, which has roots of its own, 

 and becomes au independent plant when the conuectmg part dies, as it 

 does after a while. The Currant and the Gooseberry naturally multiply in 

 this way, as well as by suckers (which are the same thing, only the connect- 

 ing part is concealed under ground). Stolons must have suggested the 

 operation of layerinfj by bending down and covering w^ith soil branches 

 which do not naturally make stolons ; and after tiiey have taken root, as 

 they almost always will, the gardeuer cuts through the connecting stem, 

 and so converts a rooting branch into a separate plant. 



96. An Offset is a short stolon, or sucker, with a crown of leaves at the 

 end, as in the Houseleek (Fig. . /k y\ 



91), which propagates abundantly X? ■> \AA^a V>' 



in this way. 



97. A Runner, of M^iich the 

 Strawberry presents the most fa- 

 miliar and characteristic example, 

 is a long and slender, tendril-hke 

 stolon, or branch from next the 

 ground, destitute of conspicuous 

 leaves. Each runner of the Straw- 

 berry, after having grown to its full 

 lengtii, strikes root from the tip, which fixes it to tlie ground, then forms 

 a bud there, which develops into a tuft of leaves, and so gives rise to a new 

 plant, wliicli sends out new runners to act in the same way. In this 

 manner a single Strawberry plant will spread over a large space, or produce 

 a great number of phints, in the cour.se of the summer, all connected at 

 first by the slender runners; but these die in the foll()^villg winter, if not 

 before, and leave the plants as so many separate individuals. 



98. Tendrils are branches of a very slender sort, like runners, not destined 

 like them for propagation, and therefore always destitute of buds or leaves, 

 being intended only for climbing. Simple tendrils are such as those of 

 Passion-flowers (iMg. 92). Compound or branching tendrils are borne by 

 the Cucumber and Pumpkin, by the Grape-Vine, Virginia Creeper, etc. 



99. A tendril commonly grows straight and outstretched until it reaches 

 some neighboring support, such as a stem, when its apex hooks around it 

 to secure a hold; then the whole tendril shortens itself by coiling up 

 spirally, and so draws the shoot of the growing plant nearer to the sup- 

 porting object. But the tendrils of the Virginia Creeper (Ainpelopsis, Fig. 



Fig. 91. Houseleek (Sempervivum), with oflfsets 



