26 MORPHOLOGY 



common among Monocotyledons than among Di- 

 cotyledons. 



The axillary buds of several aerial stems naturally 

 separate' from the axils of the leaves,- and, falling to 

 the ground, grow and reproduce the plant just as the 

 bulbs do. Hence these aerial buds are known as 

 aerial bulbils. The flowering shoots of Agave can- 

 tfila, a kind of murga (fig. 22), Globba bulbifera 

 (fig. 23), as well as the twining stems of chuprhi- 

 atoo or Yam {Dioscorea) (fig. 24), are familiar examples 

 of the detachment of bulbils. 



CHAPTER VI 



THE STEM (Continued) 



Stems are usually marked on their surface with 

 more or less conspicuous rings called nodes. They 

 are very prominent in the stems of Bamboo, Sugar- 

 cane, Maize, Betel-nut (supari), Palms, &c. Portions 

 of stems between successive nodes are called inter- 

 nodes, which are short or long according to the kind 

 of plant. Absence of nodes in roots is another mor- 

 phological difference between them and stems. In 

 some plants a portion of the axis which lies between 

 the cotyledons above and the real root below bears the 

 mixed character of both root and stem. This portion 

 of the axis is known as the hypocotyl or region below 

 the cotyledons. If we examine a Tamarind seedling, 

 we find that the pair of thick cotyledons, instead of 

 remaining under the ground during germination, as 

 in most seeds, are carried above the ground by the 

 growing axis. Here the hypocotyl, or the portion of 



