CHAPTER VII 



STRUCTURE OF THE STEM 

 STEM OF MONOCOTYLEDONOUS PLANTS 



70. External characters. The most familiar of the larger 

 monocotyledonous plants are the grass-like ones, such as Indian 

 corn, broom corn, and bamboo, the green briers (Smilax), and the 

 palms. The stem 



of Indian corn con- 

 sists of a series o^ 

 smooth, slightly 

 tapering internodes 

 connected by en- 

 larged nodes. Palm 

 stems often have a 

 very uneven sur- 

 face, due to the 

 projecting remains 

 of old leafstalks 

 (Fig. 53). 



71. Internal 

 structure. A 

 cross section of a 

 corn stem shows 

 it to be composed 

 of a hard, flinty 

 rind, inclosing a 



very soft pith, which is traversed lengthwise by many slender 

 fibers (Fig. 54). The fibers are arranged in a somewhat definite 

 way, the smaller ones thickly clustered near the rind, the larger 

 ones, less abundant, toward the center. 



57 



FIG. 53. Group of date palms 



