STEM. 
59 
compared with the leaf ; as the peduncle b with the flower, with 
regard to their relative length. 
Fig. 6. 6th. Frond. The term Frond, be- 
longs entirely to Cryptogamous 
plants ; it is a kind of stem, in 
which the leaf and fructification 
are united ; or rather, the flow- 
ers and fruit are produced from 
the leaf itself ; as in the Fern. 
Linnaeus considered the palm 
trees as fronds, as they have not 
the proper stem of a tree ; but 
they are rather herbs, whose 
stalks bear the flowers and fruit. 
Here is the sketch of a fern, its 
stem, (^>.6, a ) is called a frond. 
7th. Stipe, is the stem or leafless part of a frond, 
or the stalk of a fungus or mushroom. The 
term is also applied to the slender thread, 
which in many of the compound flowers, el- 
evates the hairy crown, with which the seeds 
are furnished, and connects it with the seed. 
Thus, in the seeds of the Dandelion, which is 
here represented, the column, {Fig. 7, a,) standing on the seed 
(6,) and elevating the down (c) is the stipe. 
Fig. 8. 
Here is a mushroom with the cap ( Fig . 
8, d) elevated on a stem (e) which is its 
stipe. 
Having considered the different kinds of 
stems, according to the division which most 
botanical writers have made, we will now 
notice some general circumstances relating 
to them, without reference to any one of 
these classes of stalks in particular; al- 
though these remarks will be mostly appli- 
cable to the Tige or Caulis, which is the most common kind of 
stem. 
The coherence or hardness of stems has given rise to the fol- 
lowing distinctions. 
Herbaceous, having- a tender substance, which usually dies every year ; 
in some cases when the root lives more than one year, the stem is annual ; 
as in the tulip ; Woody, as in the oak; Solid, like the box ; Pithy, as the el- 
der ; Hollow, as in the onion ; Corky , as in the cork ; or Pulpy, as in the 
cactus or prickly pear. 
Frond — Stipe — 
