CHAPTER IX 



THE STEM — KINDS AND FORMS; PRUNING 



The Stem System. — The stem of a plant is the part 

 that bears 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. 



The entire mass or fabric of stems of any plant is called 

 its stem system. It comprises the trunk, branches, and 

 twigs, but not the stalks of leaves and flowers that die and 

 fall away. The stem system may be herbaceous or woody, 

 annual, biennial, or perennial ; and it may assume many 

 sizes and shapes. 



Stems are of Many Forms. — The general way in which 

 a plant grows is called its habit. The habit is the appear- 

 ance or general form. 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. 



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. 33, is an example. Such 

 plants are often said to be stemless, however, in order to 

 distinguish them from plants that have Long or conspic- 

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