LESSON 6.] SUCKEHS, STOLON^, AND OFFSETS. 37 



gives rise to several terms, which may be briefly mentioned : — 

 such as 



Diffuse, when loosely spreading itf all directions. 



Declined, when turned or bending over to one side. 



Decumbent, reclining on the ground, as if too weak to stand. 



Assurgent or ascending, when rising obliquely upwards. 



Procumbent or prostrate, lying flat on the ground from the first. 



Creeping, or repent, when prostrate stems on or just beneath the 

 ground strike root as they grow ; as does the White Clover, the 

 little Partridge-berry, &c. 



Climbing, or scandent, when stems rise by clinging to other ob- 

 jects for support, — whether by tendrils, as do the Pea, Grape- 

 vine, and Virginia Creeper (Fig. 62) ; by their twisting leaf-stalks, 

 as the Virgin's Bower ; or by rootlets, like the Ivy, Poison Ivy, and 

 Trumpet Creeper (80). 



Twining, or voluble, when stems rise by coiling themselves spirally 

 around other stems or supports ; like the Morning-Glory and the Bean. 



87. Certain forms of stems have received distinct names. The 

 jointed stem of Grasses and Sedges is called by botanists a culm ; 

 and the peculiar scaly trunk of Palms and the like (Fig. 47) is 

 sometimes called a caudex. A few forms of branches the gardener 

 distinguishes by particular names ; and they are interesting from 

 their serving for the natural propagation of plants from buds, and 

 for suggesting ways by which we artificially multiply plants that 

 would not propagate themselves without the gardener's aid. These 

 are suckers, offsets, stolons, and runners. 



88. Suckers are ascending branches risingfrom stems under ground, 

 such as are produced so abundantly by the Rose, Raspberry, and 

 other plants said to multiply " by the root." If we uncover them, 

 we see at once the great difference between these subterranean 

 branches and real roots. They are only creeping branches under 

 ground. Remarking how the upright shoots from these branches 

 become separate plants, simply by the dying off of the connecting 

 under-ground stems, the gardener expedites the result by cutting 

 them through with his spade. That is, he propagates the plant " by 

 division." 



89. Stolons are trailing or reclining branches above ground, which 

 strike root where they touch the soil, and then send up a vigorous 

 shoot, which has roots of its own, and becomes an independent plant 

 when the connecting part dies, as it does after a while. The Currant 



4 



