13'i VEGETABLE ORGANOGRAPHY. 



Internode : and Turpin calls the part from which a leaf 

 or pair of them spring, the Vital Node (noeud vital), thus 

 extending by theoretical views the primitive meaning of 

 the word. 



Knotted Stems are frequently confounded with jointed 

 ones, i. e. those provided with kinds of articulations, or 

 places which can be broken without tearing the tissue. 

 This error arises from this : — 1st, that the articulations of 

 stems are almost always provided with rims or swellings 

 which resemble nodes ; — 2d, that the articulations can 

 only be broken during the first or second year, and that 

 afterwards they present sufficient density to seem like 

 true nodes. However, we know without difficulty that 

 the nodes and articulations are very distinct : the former, 

 formed by the plexus of vessels, present points more 

 compact than the rest of the tissue ; the latter, on the 

 contrary, are the parts of the stem which are less firm 

 and more easily broken, thus Vitacae, Caryophylleae, 

 and Geraniacea? are articulated in their young state ; 

 the interval between the two articulations bears indif- 

 ferently the names of Articuli, Internodes, and 

 Merithalli. 



The tops of stems, or of their branches, are generally 

 green, soft, and herbaceous ; a great number present 

 this appearance throughout their whole surface, — these 

 bear the name of Herbaceous Stems (herhacei ; her- 

 bacces) ; and the plants to which they belong are called 

 Herbs ( herhcs ; herbes); these stems do not generally 

 last more than a year : either the plant itself perishes 

 within this time, or the neck of the root continues to 

 live, and shoots up new stems the following year. Usually, 

 in this last case, the part of the stem which remains is so 

 short, that it is customary to say that the young shoots 

 spring from the neck ; this is what we see in the 

 Bryony, for example. Sometimes, on the contrary, the 



