CHAPTER II. 



STEMS AND BRANCHES. 



Stem — Length of internodes — Duration — Branching — Herbaceous 

 and woody — Types of stem — Culm — Stock — Trunk — Bole — 

 Stool — Surface of stem — Shapes of herbaceous stems and 

 twigs — Branches — Arrangement — Ordinary branches and 

 dwarf-shoots — Death of terminal buds — Terminal flowers — 

 Positions of flowers — Changes in symmetry of branching. 



Our study of the Bud has shown that the stem is merely 

 part of the shoot-system, and in its ordinary typical form 

 it is that part which acts as a support to the leaves which 

 it developes at its apex. 



It is for so many purposes convenient to consider the 

 stem apart from the structures which it bears, notwith- 

 standing that botanists habitually speak of it as if it were 

 an integral part of the plant. Strictly speaking the stem 

 cannot be thoroughly treated scientifically apart from its 

 lateral outgrowths — not necessarily leaves, nor even leaf- 

 structures — but we may concentrate our attention on some 

 peculiarities of the stems of ordinary plants to fecilitate 

 the undei'standing of other matters. 



In the embryo of germinating seeds, or in resting bulbs 

 or other buds, the stem or primary axis of the shoot is 

 always short, and in many cases it remains very short 

 throughout the life of the plant. In the Daisy, Dandelion, 



2—2 



