Stem (plant)

“ The flower-stem is more than 2 ft. high, and very much branched; the branches commencing at from 4 ins. to 8 ins. above the ground, and forming a large and exceedingly handsome panicle of flowers of a light-blue colour, tinged with the greyish hue of the numerous membranous bracts and thin dry calyces. A well-drained, sandy soil, in an open sunny position, is the best for this plant, which, however, grows in any ordinary garden-soil, and is admirably adapted for naturalisation or grouping with the acanthuses, tritomas, etc., the effect of the inflorescence being very remarkable. ”

“ Stems above ground, which is the most usual form for them, are of many kinds, all serving the purpose of support to the leaves and flowers, and as a means of carrying sap from the roots or underground stems to the upper part of the plant, and also to carry certain foods to the roots from the leaves, of which more anon. In the case of herbs, like goldenrod or daisy, the stem may be apparently all pith on the inside, with only a thin outer coating of harder substance, not unlike bark, but usually green. ”

“ The stem or trunk attaches itself by clasping fibres to the rocks, always beyond high- water mark: it attains a height of eight or ten feet and the thickness of a man's thigh: it branches upwards; and the ends of the branches give out leaves two or three feet long, and barely three inches broad, which, when in the water, hang down like the boughs of a willow. In many places the plant is so copious that it forms a submerged forest. On looking down from a boat through the transparent water where it grows, nothing but a mass of green foliage can be seen. ”

“ And it was quite a long story when we came to the dodder, which roots in the stems of living plants, and steals all its food from them; and to those orchids whose long roots swing from tree branches and draw their nourishment from the air.
About stems, however, even I felt a little discouraged; for though it is from the stem that all other parts of a plant grow, yet it is not looked upon generally as an interesting object when studied by itself; and I dare say you children still feel that stems are less amusing than fruits, or seeds, or roots. ”

“ Contrast between Stem and Root. Stems are ascending axes; roots are descending axes. Stems grow by the successive development of internodes (13) , one after another, each leaf-bearing at its summit (or node) ; so that it is of the essential nature of a stem to bear leaves. Roots bear no leaves, are not distinguishable into nodes and internodes, but grow on continuously from the lower end. They commonly branch freely, but not from any fixed points nor in definite order.
69. Although roots generally do not give rise to stems, and therefore do not propagate the plant, exceptions are not uncommon. ”

“ The Stem is the axis of the plant, the part which bears all the other organs. Branches are secondary stems, that is, stems growing out of stems. The stem at the very beginning produces roots, in most plants a single root from the base of the embryo-stem, or caulicle. As this root becomes a descending axis, so the stem, which grows in the opposite direction is called the ascending axis. Rising out of the soil, the stem bears leaves; and leaf-bearing is the particular characteristic of the stem. But there are forms of stems that remain underground, or make a part of their growth there. ”

“ Away up amongst the branches and foliage far above one's head, leaves and flowers are developed on numerous branches which have vigorously pushed out as soon as they got near the sunlight, this tough, spiny, thread-like stem being their only connexion with the ground.
The development of these climbing plants is probably connected with the dense shade of forests. In such places a young stem growing up will become long and drawn out; its tip will droop over and hang downwards. But there is a curious peculiarity in the growth of all stems. ”

“ Others are just appearing above the earth.
Here is a young morning-glory (Fig. 120) . We see that its stem, like that of the bean, was the first thing to come out of the seed. This stem has turned downward into the earth. From its lower end grows the root, which buries itself deeper and deeper.
[Pg 113]
An older plant shows us that the upper part of the stem straightens itself out and grows upward, bearing with it a pair of leaves (Fig. 121) .
Fig. 120
From between these starts a tiny bud, that soon unfolds into a fresh leaf, which is carried upward by a new piece of stem. ”

“ The slender thread-like stem is white, yellow, or red in colour, bears no leaves, and attaches itself by suckers to the stem or leaves of some other plant round which it twines and from which it derives its nourishment. ”

“ Stems or branches which remain under ground give out roots as freely as roots themselves give off branches. Stems which creep on the ground most commonly root at the joints; so will most branches when bent to the ground, as in propagation by layering; and propagation by cuttings equally depends upon the tendency of the cut end of a shoot to produce roots. Thus, a piece of a plant which has stem and leaves, either developed or in the bud, may be made to produce roots, and so become an independent plant. ”

“ The stem generally grows more rapidly at any one time on one side, say on the north, and therefore bends over to the opposite side. After a time it will be growing most rapidly on the eastern side and then its head points westwards, and so on. ”

“ In general, we do not see much of the stem because it is largely hidden by the covering of leaves, so that if you want to study stems you should go to the woods in the winter when there are no leaves on the trees, and you can see the form of the branches themselves. ”

“ The foundation of a new plant consists equally of a stem and leaves, and the sole distinction is that the stem becomes intimately blended at its base with the mother plant in its growth, and has no free radical extremity like that exhibited by a plant developed from a seed. ”

“ Success with these plants may be secured by first selecting a sheltered and warm position, so that their noble leaves may be well developed and not lacerated by storms when they are fully grown; secondly, by giving them a deep, free, and thoroughly-drained soil; and thirdly, by confining them as a rule to a simple and rather dwarf stem, so that the vigour of the individual may not be wasted in several branches. The effect of a plant kept to a single stem, as shown in the plate, is always much superior to that of a branched one. Young plants present this aspect naturally ”

“ The gardener imitates them in the process called layering, that is, bending down an erect branch and covering it with soil, causing it to strike root. When the connecting stem is cut, a new plant is formed. Long and leafless stolons, like those of the Strawberry are called runners. Stems creep below the ground as well as above. Probably the pupil will think of some examples. The pretty little Gold Thread is so named from the yellow running stems, which grow beneath the ground and send up shoots, or suckers, which make new plants. ”

“ By confining it to a single stem and using it in a young state, you get the fullest size and grace of which the leaves are capable. Allow it to become old and branched, and it may be useful, but by no means so much so as when young and without side branches. It may be raised from seed as easily as a common bedding plant. ”

“ As the roots are feeding and storing places, so the stem is a sort of passage way for the passing back and forth of liquids. Take a stem of a big plant, like an oak tree, and you see in the wood where storage of fibre has gone on. ”

“ In a vigorous plant, the lower leaves are about twenty inches in length, and from three to five in breadth, decreasing as they ascend. The inflorescence, or flowering part of the stem, is terminal, loosely branching in that form which botanists term a panicle, with long, linear floral leaves or bractes at the origin of each division. ”

“ A few small bracts occur at the base of the flower-head, which droops on a small stem. The heads are arranged in little clusters springing from the angles of the branches and leaves.
As the flower-head matures, there may be found within its nodding cup a bunch of fine reddish hairs, like a sable paint brush,—later this opens into a downy seed tassel. The fine stalk gives the plant a distinguished appearance. ”

“ It grows close to the ground, and is usually hidden from sight by the pair of round, woolly leaves shooting up from the underground stem, which tastes like ginger. This thick underground stem is the storehouse whose stock of food makes it possible for the plant to flower and leaf so early in the year. ”

“ Even a very slender stem can convey a vast amount of water and food to a plant which is transpiring or growing actively, as we can test roughly by weighing a pot shrub as it begins to come into leaf, and again a week later, or comparing the growth of a pea with the size of its stem at the base. ”

“ And when a stem on land knows how to keep off meddlers, yet has the wisdom not to take unnecessary trouble when afloat, like that of the amphibious knotweed, then we feel that a plant gives its stem, as well as its other parts, a large supply of common sense. ”

“ The flowering stem pushes up from the root-crown in spring, ultimately reaching from 3 to 4 ft. in height, and as it grows becoming branched, and furnished with alternate sessile leaves, which are stem-clasping, oblong, unequally-lobed, clothed with glandular clammy hairs, and of a dull grey-green, the whole plant having a powerful nauseous odour. ”

“ In bulbs reduction in length is carried still farther, the stem forming a broad cone from the surface of which spring a number of modified leaves, forming fleshy scales swollen with food material; these surround and protect the bud, which when it grows produces green leaves and a terminal flower-shoot; growth is continued by axillary scale-leaved shoots situated among the scale leaves, which in due course themselves produce green leaves and flowers. ”

“ Nodes and Internodes.—The parts of the stem at which buds grow are called nodes or joints and the spaces between the buds are internodes. The stem at nodes is usually enlarged, and the pith is usually interrupted. The distance between the nodes is influenced by the vigour of the plant: how?
Fig. 59.—Rhizome or Rootstock.
Stems vs. Roots.—Roots sometimes grow above ground (Chap. VII) ; so, also, stems sometimes grow underground, and they are then known as subterranean stems, rhizomes, or rootstocks (Fig. 59) .
Stems normally bear leaves and buds, and thereby are they distinguished from roots ”

“ Coming up out of the earth, so slender a stem that dozens can find starting-point in an inch, it darts up a slender, straight shoot, five, ten, twenty feet, with hundreds of fine, feathery branches locking and interlocking with all the other hundreds around it, till it is an inextricable network, like lace. Then it bursts into yellow bloom, still finer, more feathery and lacelike. The stems are so infinitesimally small and of so dark a green, that at a short distance they do not show, and the cloud of blossoms seems floating in the air; at times it looks like a golden dust. ”

“ Forms of Stems.—Stems may grow in many ways. Let the pupils compare the habits of growth of the seedlings they have studied. The Sunflower and Corn are erect. This is the most usual habit, as with our common trees. The Morning Glory is twining, the stem itself twists about a support. The Bean, Pea and Nasturtium are climbing. The stems are weak, and are held up, in the first two by tendrils, in the last by the twining leaf-stalks. ”

“ Several slender stems," he adds, "spring from one root, thickly encompassed with little round succulent sharp-pointed leaves. It throws out, moreover, a stem towards the middle, about a span high, with an umbel of slender (greenish or) pale yellowish flowers. ”

“ Most beautiful it is. The lush fat green stem; the crown of huge leaves, falling over in curves like those of human limbs; and below, the whorls of green or golden fruit, with the purple heart of flowers dangling below them; and all so full of life, that this splendid object is the product of a few months. I am told that if you cut the stem off at certain seasons, you may see the young leaf—remember that it is an endogen, and grows from within, like a palm, or a lily, or a grass—actually move upward from within and grow before your eyes ”

“ Very well! Since the stem does not naturally curve the way we want it, we will make it do so. All we have to do is to draw it through our fingers several times and, by pressure, gently persuade it to turn as we wish.
Fig. 84 is the under-side of the small leaf at the bottom of the design (Fig. 82) , and shows how the stem loop above the leaf was made. ”

“ The stem that found its way so surely to the upper world knows not less surely the way back again; and when its white blossom has opened for the last time, and then wrapped its green cloak about it again, not to be unfolded, the chambered stem coils backward, and carries it safely to the bottom, where its seed may ripen in the soft, dark mud, and prepare for another summer. ”

“ When full grown, the leaves are seven or eight feet long and a foot and a half broad. The stem of the leaf is as big as a man's arm. The fruit-stem shoots out at the top of the full-grown tree,—first blossoming, and then bearing. ”