THE STEM. 



73 



ground, takes root at or near its extremity, sends up new shoots, 

 and becomes a new plant. The Hobble-bush and Black-rasp- 

 berry do this naturally, and gardeners imitate the process in 

 many plants. 



218. The Cion is any healthy twig or branchlet bearing one 

 or more buds, used by the gardeners in the common process of 

 grafting. Slips and cuttings are fragments of ordinary branches 

 or stems, consisting of young wood bearing one or more buds. 

 These strike root when planted in the ground. So the Grape- 

 vine and Hop. The Offset is merely a cion severed from the 

 parent and set in the ground to strike root. 



250, a, Slip (Gooseberry) taking root. 6, Cutting (Grape) taking root, c, Stolons or layers artificially 

 arranged for propagation, d, A mode of d rfing; the vessel, v, is filled with soil. e. Scions; proces* 

 of grafting. /, A. sucker. 



219. The Runner is a prostrate, filiform branch, issuing from 

 certain short-stemmed herbs, extending itself along the surface 

 of the ground, striking root at its end without being buried. 

 Thence leaves arise, and a new plant, which in turn sends out 

 new runners, as in the Strawberry. 



220. The Node, or joint of the stem, marks a definite point 

 of a peculiar organization, where the leaf with its axillary bud 

 arises. The nodes occur at regular intervals, and the spaces 

 between them are termed IXTERNODES. This provides for the 

 symmetrical arrangement of the leaves and branches of the stem. 

 In the root no such provision is made, and the branches have no 

 manner of arrangement. Now the growth of the stem consists 



