134 VEGETABLE ORGANOGRAPHY. 



wliich send out branches fi*om their base ; they scarcely 

 exceed half the height of a man, and do not bear scaly 

 buds ; as, for example, the Garden Sage (Salvia offici- 

 nalis). 



2d. Shrubs (Jrutices ; arhrisseaux, arhustes), which 

 produce branches at their base ; they hardly exceed the 

 height of a man, and often bear buds — as the Lilac 

 (Sijringa). 



3d. Trees (arhores; arhres), which, greatly exceed the 

 height of a man, and divide into branches at their upper 

 part ; whilst the lower, gradually denuded of them, forms 

 a simple trunk : they are most frequently provided with 

 buds — ai!, for example, the Oak. These practical and 

 popular divisions, derived from the size and texture of 

 stems, have no precision, since they are not founded 

 upon anatomical differences. 



We frequently find the annual stems provided with 

 stomata ; they (the stems) are of a decidedly green colour, 

 of a more herbaceous texture, and the cellular tissue 

 is perceptibly round. Others, on the contrary, which 

 are of a whitish colour, and with an elongated cellular 

 tissue, are devoid of stomata: in some we observe pro- 

 jecting longitudinal lines or striae of a paler colour, formed 

 of elongated cellules, and devoid of stomata; between 

 these lines are green spaces furnished with these 

 organs. 



Fleshy stems have stomata when they are naturally 

 green, as Cactus and Stapelia : it is to be observed in 

 these cases that the leaves are absent or very small, and 

 that the surface of the stem performs the true functioii 

 of a leaf. When these stems are not of a green 

 colour, as we see in Orohanche, Cynomorium, Cuscuta, 

 &c. they never have stom.ata, and are always parasitical ; 

 and this is a very strong argument for thinking that 

 Latlirca, Monotropa, and the leafless Orchidea\ arc 



