STEMS. 19 



tendrils, and perform the same duty of enabling the 

 plant, vine or climber, to climb and cling to its 

 support. 



Twining Stems, as in the French or kidney bean, Con- 

 volvulus, European honeysuckle, twist themselves 

 around their supporters without the aid of tendrils, 

 aerial roots, or leaf-stalks. The stem itself grows 

 round the object to which it clings. 



Creeping Stems, or runners, as in the strawberry, the 

 native scarlet runner (Kennedy a prostrata), melons, and 

 cucumbers, which trail along the ground, or sometimes 

 even under it. Some produce roots from the under- 

 side at certain joints, thus giving rise to a number of 

 young plants, as the strawberry. 



Stems are either hollow, as in bamboos and grasses ; 1 

 naturally solid, as in wattles and most large trees ; spongy 

 or pithy, as in the native paper-grass and sword-rush of 

 the coast ; succulent or fleshy, as in the numerous species 

 of cacti- 

 Trees have generally hard, woody stems or trunks, 

 varying from 30 to 500 feet in height, and are almost 

 peculiar to dicotyledons. Some large palms and ferns 

 are called trees, from the great size of their stems. 



Shrubs, large or small, are plants seldom possessing a 

 distinct central stem. They are inferior in size, but are 

 always woody. Examples : — Fuchsia, Correa or native 

 fuchsia, privet, heath, lantern flower, Epacris or native 

 heath, Diosma, Australian holly, and pouch thorn or 

 native box (Bursaria spinosa). — See Glossary, 



1 The stem, or stalk of grasses is termed a Culm 



