CHAPTER III 



THE STEM 



34. THE STEM SYSTEM. The stem of a plant is the 

 part which hears the buds, leaves, flowers and fruits. Its 

 office is to hold these parts up to the light and air ; and 

 through its tissues the various food -materials and the life- 

 giving fluids are distributed to 

 the growing and working parts. 



35. The entire mass or fabric 

 of stems of any plant is called 

 its stem system. Figs. 4, 18. 

 The stem system may be her- 

 baceous or woody, annual, bien- 

 nial, or perennial; and it may 

 assume many different sizes and 

 shapes. 



36. Stems are of many forms . 

 The general way in which a 

 plant grows is called its habit. 

 The habit is the appearance or 



looks. Its habit may be open or loose, dense, straight, 

 crooked, compact, straggling, climbing, erect, weak, strong, 

 and the like. The roots and leaves are the important 

 functional or working parts : the stem merely connects 

 them, and its form is exceedingly variable. 



37. KINDS OF STEMS. The stem may be so short as to 

 be scarcely distinguishable. In such cases the crown of the 

 plant that part just at the surface of the ground bears 

 the leaves and flowers ; but this crown is really a very short 

 stem. The dandelion, Fig. 8, is an example. Such plants 



(14) 



18. Stem system of an apple tree 

 Deliquescent trunk. 



