98 OF THE CULM. 



cavus, hollow, as in Cineraria palustris, t. 151, as 

 well as Hemlock, and many umbelliferous plants be- 

 sides. 



Plants destitute of a stem are called acaules, stem- 

 less, as Cypripedium acaule, Curt. Mag. t. 192, and 

 Carduus acaulis, Engl. Bot. t. 161. Such plants, 

 when they belong to a genus or family generally fur- 

 nished with stems, as in these instances and Carlina 

 acaulis, Camer. Epit. 428, are liable from occasional 

 luxuriance to acquire some degree of stem, but seldom 

 otherwise*. Phigiiicula, Engl. Bot.t. 70 and 145, is 

 a genus invariably stemless, while Primula, t. 4, 5, 6 

 and 513, is much less truly so. The term acaulis 

 however must never be too rigidly understood, for 

 logical precision is rarely applicable to natural pro- 

 ductions. 



Caulis fasciculatus, a clustered stem, is a disease or 

 accideat, in which several branches or stems are 

 united longitudinally into a flat broad figure, 

 crowded with leaves or flowers at the extremity. 

 It occurs in the Ash, several species of Daphne, 

 Ranunculus, Antirrhinum, &c. In Pisumcomo- 

 sum of Rivinus, called the Top-knot Pea, it is 

 a permanent variety propagated by seed. 



2. CULMUS. A straw or Culm, is the peculiar Stem 



* Neottia acaulis, Exot. Bot. t. 105, proves to have a stem, when in 

 perfection, and is now properly called N. picta by Dr. Sims in Curt. 

 Mag. t. 156?. 



