ENQUIRY INTO PLANTS, I. i. 9-11 



the members of animals : for eacli of these is distinct 

 in character from the rest, and together they make 

 up the whole. 



The root is that by which the plant draws its 

 nourishment, the stem that to which it is con- 

 ducted. And by the ' stem ' I mean that part 

 which grows above ground and is single ^ ; for that 

 is the part which occurs most generally both in 

 amiuals and in long-lived plants ; and in the case 

 of trees it is called the 'trunk.' By 'branches' 

 I mean the parts which split off from the stem and 

 are called by some 'boughs.'- By 'twig' I mean 

 the growth which springs from the branch regarded 

 as a single whole,^ and especially such an annual 

 growth. 



Now these parts belong more particularly to 

 tfees. The stem however, as has been said, is more 

 general, though not all plants possess even this, 

 for instance, some herbaceous plants are stemless ; 

 others again have it, not permanently, but as an 

 annual growth, including some whose roots live bevond 

 tlie year.* In fact your plant is a thing various and 

 manifold, and so it is difficult to describe in general 

 terms : in proof whereof we have the fact that we 

 cinnot here seize on any universal character which 

 is common to all, as a mouth and a stomach are com- 

 mon to all animals ; whereas in plants some characters 

 are the same in all, merely in the sense that all 

 have analogous ^ characters, while others correspond 

 otherwise. For not all plants have root, stem, branch, 

 t-vig, leaf, flower or fruit, or again bark, core, fibres 

 or veins ; for instance, fungi and truffles ; and yet 

 these and such like characters belong to a plant's 

 essential nature. However, as has been said, these 



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