THE STEM. 
Fig. 26 
flower icr^d fruit, but not the leaves ; 
as the dandelion. Plants with scapes 
are sometimes called stemless plants 
in which case, the scape is considered 
as a peduncle proceeding from the 
root. 
a. Peduncle^ or flower-stalk, is but 
a subdivision of the caulis or stem ; 
it bears the flower and fruit, but not 
the leaves ; when the peduncle is di- 
vided, each subdivision is called a pedicel. In determining 
the species of plants, the length of the peduncle is often com- 
pared with the flower. When there is no peduncle or flower 
stalk, the flowers are said to be sessile. 
h. Petiole.^ or leaf-stalk, is a stem supporting the leaf, as the 
peduncle supports the flower ; it is usually green, and is a part 
of the leaf itself. The petiole of many plants is somewhat in 
the form of a cylinder ; the upper surface is rather flattened, 
the under surface convex. The woody ^vascular tissue runs 
through the petiole as threads or fibers bundled together, but 
are ramified in the leaf as veins. In most cases, the leaves 
and flowers are supported by distinct foot-stalks, but some- 
times the foot-stalk supports both the leaf and flower. The 
petiole is often compared with the leaf, as the peduncle is 
with the flower, as to its relative length in the different species 
of plants. 
G. The term frond belongs entirely to Cryptogamous plants ; 
it is, however, applied to the leaf, rather than the stem ; the 
leafy part of the fern (Fig. 27, a) is the frond ; this bears the 
flower and fruit. Linnseus considered the leaves 
of palm-trees as fronds. The stem of the fern 
(Fig. 27, h) is called a stipe. By observations of 
geologists it is ascertained that stiped plants were 
created before cauline ones ; petrifactions of the 
former being found in the lower formations of 
the earth, while no remains of cauline plants are 
found there. The stalk of a fungus or mushroom 
is called a stipe. The term is also applied to the slende? 
thread which, in many of the compound flowers, ^x^. 28. 
elevates the hairy crown with which the seeds 
are furnished, and connects it with the seed. 
Thus, in a seed of the dandelion, the column 
(Fig. 28, a) standing on the seed (5) and elevat- 
a. Peduncle— ft. Petiole— c. Frond— Which part of the fern is its frond ?— Which the stipe ?— Differ- 
ence between stiped and cauline plants — Wiiich first formed 1 — Different applications of the term 
•tipe — Stipe of a dandelion seed — Stipe of a mushroom. 
