Ch. VIL] STEMS, 43 
' Big. 24. 
156. Here 1s a mushroom, or Toad- 
» stool, with the cap, (Fig. 24, d) elevated 
ZB by its stem or stipe e 
157. Herbaceous stems usually die 
every year; in some cases, when the root 
lives more than one year, the stem is an- 
nual, as in the Tulip. 
158. Woody stems are composed of 
tough fibres, as the oak, currant-bush, &c. 
Plants with woody stems are generally 
much longer lived than herbaceous 
lants. . 
159. Pithy stems, like the elder, are in their centre composed 
of a soft substance, called medulla, or marrow. Some stems 
are solid, as the Box; hollow, as the Onion; and corky, as the 
Cork tree. 
160. The stem is either simple, or divided into branches. 
The divisions of the main stem are called branches ; the divi- 
sions of the branches are called branchlets, or boughs. 
161. Branches sometimes grow without any regular order; 
sometimes they are opposite ; sometimes alternate ; and some- 
times, as in certain species of the pine, they form a series of 
rings around the trunk. Some branches are erect, as in the pop- 
lar; others are pendant, as in the willow; some, as in the oak, 
form nearly a right angle with the trunk. 
162. A remarkable phenomenon is described by travellers 
as being exhjbited by the stems of the Banyan tree of India, 
called the Ficus Indicus; these stems throw out fibres, which de- 
scend and take root in the earth. In process of time, the stems 
become large trees; and thus from one primitive root, is formed 
a little forest. The tree is called by various names; as the cit 
dian-God-tree, the arched-Fig-tree, &c. The Hindoos plant it 
near their temples, and in many cases the tree itself serves them 
fora temple. Milton speaks of this tree as the one from which 
oo and Eve obtained leaves to form themselves garments; 
@ says: 
an 
156. What is the stem of the mushroom called ? 
~ 157. What are herbaceous stems composed of? 
158. What are woody stems? 
159. What other kinds of stems are there ? 
160. What are branches and boughs? 
161. What are the different appearances presented by branches? 
What is said of the Banyan tree ? 
