THE STEM. 19 



increase in diameter. In the first class we find the oak, 

 pine, pride of China, etc. In the second, the palm, yucca, 

 banana. In the third, the ferns, mosses, etc. 



37. Now, after examining the three primary or grand 



Pio. 11. Fig. 12. 



divisions of stems, we will observe that the stems of some 

 plants are soft and watery, and others tough and hard. 

 The first are liei^aceous, as mint, poke- weed, etc. ; the sec- 

 ond we call woody, as lilac, rose, and althea. 



38. The main stem of a shrub or plant is called the 

 caul is ; the stem that supports the flower, the peduncle. 

 When the peduncle is subdivided it is '^, pedicel. If a plant 

 has one single stem, as the lily, it is said to be simple ; if 

 branching, as in the dahlia, it is compound ; if the stalk 

 springs from the root and bears the flower, but no leaf, it 

 is called a sca'pe. A jointed hollow stem is called a culm. 

 The grasses, bamboo, cane, etc., liave this kind of stem. 

 When the flower is set down upon the main stem without 

 any peduncle or flower-stalk, it is said to be sessile. A 

 leaf also is sessile if it has no petiole or leaf-stalk. 



39. There are some plants that present no division of 

 stem and leaf; they appear as part of each other, and bear 

 the flower and fruit upon the edges and under surface of 



37. What further is to be observed respecting stems? What are soft stems 

 called ? Hard stems ? 



38. What is the main stem of a plant called? What the stem that supports 

 the leaf? What the flower? When the peduncle is divided? If a plant has a 

 single stem, what is it called ? If branching ? If the stalks spring from the root, 

 supporting only the flower ? What is a culm ? Example. When is a flower ses- 

 sile ;' When is a leaf sessile ? 



39. When plants present no division of stem and leaf, where do they bear the 

 flower and fruit ? Explain the cut (Fig. 13), and tell me what a stipe is. 



