56 



THE STEM 



82. So-called stemless plants. — At the opposite end 

 of the scale from the [>huits with tall stems, rising as high 

 as possible toward the sources of liglit, are tliose that, like 

 the Dandelion (Fig. 42), reduce the leaf-hearing axis to 

 tlie shortest possilile span. Owing to the extreme brevit\' 

 of the stem, and perhaps as well to the difticnlty of 



42. Root, sliorteued stem, buds, ami leaves, of the Dandelion. 



distinguishing the stem portion from the taproot, these 

 plants are sometimes spoken of as stemless. A better term 

 is acauIcKcent ( wjiich literally means hecomui// sfemlefn^^. 

 The summit of the stem — in the Dandelimi — is at the 

 level of tlie ground, or slightly lower. ^ ( 'rov.ded together 

 by tlie shortening of the internodes, the lea\es radiate in 



1 The roots of some plants, after gaining a firm hold on the earth, con- 

 tract and gradnallv draw the stem into the soil. 



