OF THE STEM. 
43 
are erect^ as in the poplar, others pendent, as in the willow, and 
some, as in the oak, form nearly a right angle with the trunk. 
These various circumstances constitute distinctive characters in 
plants, a knowledge of which is very necessary to the painter. Of all 
our forest trees, perhaps none, in the disposition of its branches, pre- 
sents a more beautiful and graceful aspect than the elm. 
The branches of trees, as they grow older, usually 
form a more open angle with the trunk than at first. 
We often see branches form a very- acute angle, but as 
the tree advances in age, the angles enlarge more 
and more, until the branch becomes pendent. 
Some stems are remarkable for bearing little hulbs, 
called bulbilles, in the axils of their leaves. These, like 
the bulbous root, contain within them the germ of a 
new plant. The lilium bulbiferitm, or tiger-lily, is of 
this description. (Fig. 30.) The bulbs are of a red- 
brown colour, about the size of a large gooseberry. 
They begin, soon after they are formed, to detach 
themselves from the plant, and falhng upon the ground, 
shoot out fibres and take root. This splendid flower 
may thus be rapidly increased. 
A remarkable phenomenon is described by travel- 
lers, as being exhibited by the stems of the Banyan 
tree of India, Ficus Indicus ; these stems throw out 
fibres, which descend and take root in the earth. In 
process of time, they become large trees ; and thus 
from one primitive root, is formed a little forest. This 
tree is called by various names ; as the Indian-God- 
tree, the arched-Fig-tree, &c. The Hindoos plant it 
near their temples, and in many cases, the tree itself serves them 
for a temple. Milton speaks of this tree, as the one from which 
Adam and Eve obtained leaves to form themselves garments ; he 
says it was not the fig-tree renowned for fruit, but 
" Such as at this day to Indians known 
In Malabar or Decan, spreads her arms, 
Branching so broad and long, that in the ground 
The bended twigs take root, and daudaters grow 
About the mother tree, a pillar'd shade 
High over-arched, and echoing walks between." 
Ficus Indicus. 
You have 
here, a rep- 
resentation of 
this wonderful 
tree, which is 
said to be ca- 
pable of giving 
shelter to sev- 
eral thousand 
persons. 
All the vari- 
eties of stems, 
which we have 
now considered, may be included under two divisions ; 1st, such as 
grow externally, having their wood arranged in concentric layers ; 
Branches alter in their angles as they grow older— -Bulb-bearing stems— Rooting 
stems. 
