Plant stem

A stem is one of two main structural

axes of a vascular plant, the other being
the root. It supports leaves, flowers and
fruits, transports water and dissolved
substances between the roots and the
shoots in the xylem and phloem, stores
nutrients, and produces new living tissue.
Stem showing internode and nodes plus leaf
petioles

This above-ground stem of Polygonatum has lost

its leaves, but is producing adventitious roots from
the nodes.
The stem is normally divided into nodes
and internodes:

The nodes hold one or more leaves, as

well as buds which can grow into
branches (with leaves, conifer cones,
or inflorescences (flowers)).
Adventitious roots may also be
produced from the nodes.
The internodes distance one node
from another.

The term "shoots" is often confused with

"stems"; "shoots" generally refers to new
fresh plant growth including both stems
and other structures like leaves or
flowers. In most plants stems are
located above the soil surface but some
plants have underground stems.

Stems have four main functions which

are:[1]

Support for and the elevation of leaves,

flowers and fruits. The stems keep the
leaves in the light and provide a place
for the plant to keep its flowers and
fruits.
Transport of fluids between the roots
and the shoots in the xylem and
phloem(see below)
Storage of nutrients
Production of new living tissue. The
normal lifespan of plant cells is one to
 three years. Stems have cells called
meristems that annually generate new
living tissue.

Stems have two pipe-like tissues called

xylem and phloem. The xylem tissue
transports water by the action of
transpiration pull, capillary action and
root pressure. The phloem tissue
consists of sieve tubes and their
companion cells. The two tissues are
separated by cambium which is a tissue
that divides to form xylem or phloem
cells.

Specialized terms
Stems are often specialized for storage,
asexual reproduction, protection or
photosynthesis, including the following:

Climbing stem of Senecio angulatus.

Acaulescent: used to describe stems

in plants that appear to be stemless.
Actually these stems are just
extremely short, the leaves appearing
to rise directly out of the ground, e.g.
some Viola species.
Arborescent: tree with woody stems
normally with a single trunk.
Axillary bud: a bud which grows at the
point of attachment of an older leaf
with the stem. It potentially gives rise
to a shoot.
Branched: aerial stems are described
as being branched or unbranched.
Bud: an embryonic shoot with
immature stem tip.
Bulb: a short vertical underground
stem with fleshy storage leaves
attached, e.g. onion, daffodil, tulip.
Bulbs often function in reproduction by
splitting to form new bulbs or
producing small new bulbs termed
bulblets. Bulbs are a combination of
stem and leaves so may better be
considered as leaves because the
leaves make up the greater part.
Caespitose: when stems grow in a
tangled mass or clump or in low
growing mats.
Cladode (including phylloclade): a
flattened stem that appears more-or-
less leaf like and is specialized for
photosynthesis,[2] e.g. cactus pads.
Climbing: stems that cling or wrap
around other plants or structures.
Corm: a short enlarged underground,
storage stem, e.g. taro, crocus,
gladiolus.
Decumbent stem in Cucurbita maxima.

Decumbent: stems that lie flat on the

ground and turn upwards at the ends.
Fruticose: stems that grow shrublike
with woody like habit.
Herbaceous: non woody, they die at the
end of the growing season.
Internode: an interval between two
successive nodes. It possesses the
ability to elongate, either from its base
or from its extremity depending on the
species.
Node: a point of attachment of a leaf
or a twig on the stem in seed plants. A
node is a very small growth zone.
Pedicel: stems that serve as the stalk
of an individual flower in an
inflorescence or infrutescence.
Peduncle: a stem that supports an
inflorescence.
Prickle: a sharpened extension of the
stem's outer layers, e.g. roses.
Pseudostem: a false stem made of the
rolled bases of leaves, which may be 2
to 3 m (6 ft 7 in to 9 ft 10 in) tall, as in
banana.
Rhizome: a horizontal underground
stem that functions mainly in
reproduction but also in storage, e.g.
most ferns, iris.
Runner (plant part): a type of stolon,
horizontally growing on top of the
ground and rooting at the nodes, aids
in reproduction. e.g. garden strawberry,
Chlorophytum comosum.
Scape: a stem that holds flowers that
comes out of the ground and has no
normal leaves. Hosta, lily, iris, garlic.
Stolon: a horizontal stem that
produces rooted plantlets at its nodes
and ends, forming near the surface of
the ground.
 Thorn: a modified stem with a
sharpened point.
Tuber: a swollen, underground storage
stem adapted for storage and
reproduction, e.g. potato.
Woody: hard textured stems with
secondary xylem.

Stem structure

Flax stem cross-section, showing locations of

underlying tissues. Ep = epidermis; C = cortex; BF =
bast fibres; P = phloem; X = xylem; Pi = pith
Stem usually consist of three tissues,
dermal tissue, ground tissue and
vascular tissue. The dermal tissue covers
the outer surface of the stem and usually
functions to waterproof, protect and
control gas exchange. The ground tissue
usually consists mainly of parenchyma
cells and fills in around the vascular
tissue. It sometimes functions in
photosynthesis. Vascular tissue provides
long distance transport and structural
support. Most or all ground tissue may
be lost in woody stems. The dermal
tissue of aquatic plants stems may lack
the waterproofing found in aerial stems.
The arrangement of the vascular tissues
varies widely among plant species.

Dicot stems …

Dicot stems with primary growth have

pith in the center, with vascular bundles
forming a distinct ring visible when the
stem is viewed in cross section. The
outside of the stem is covered with an
epidermis, which is covered by a
waterproof cuticle. The epidermis also
may contain stomata for gas exchange
and multicellular stem hairs called
trichomes. A cortex consisting of
hypodermis (collenchyma cells) and
endodermis (starch containing cells) is
present above the pericycle and vascular
bundles.

Woody dicots and many nonwoody

dicots have secondary growth originating
from their lateral or secondary
meristems: the vascular cambium and
the cork cambium or phellogen. The
vascular cambium forms between the
xylem and phloem in the vascular
bundles and connects to form a
continuous cylinder. The vascular
cambium cells divide to produce
secondary xylem to the inside and
secondary phloem to the outside. As the
stem increases in diameter due to
production of secondary xylem and
secondary phloem, the cortex and
epidermis are eventually destroyed.
Before the cortex is destroyed, a cork
cambium develops there. The cork
cambium divides to produce waterproof
cork cells externally and sometimes
phelloderm cells internally. Those three
tissues form the periderm, which
replaces the epidermis in function. Areas
of loosely packed cells in the periderm
that function in gas exchange are called
lenticels.

Secondary xylem is commercially

important as wood. The seasonal
variation in growth from the vascular
cambium is what creates yearly tree
rings in temperate climates. Tree rings
are the basis of dendrochronology, which
dates wooden objects and associated
artifacts. Dendroclimatology is the use of
tree rings as a record of past climates.
The aerial stem of an adult tree is called
a trunk. The dead, usually darker inner
wood of a large diameter trunk is termed
the heartwood and is the result of tylosis.
The outer, living wood is termed the
sapwood.

Monocot stems …
Stems of two Roystonea regia palms showing
characteristic bulge, leaf scars and fibrous roots,
Kolkata, India

Vascular bundles are present throughout

the monocot stem, although
concentrated towards the outside. This
differs from the dicot stem that has a
ring of vascular bundles and often none
in the center. The shoot apex in monocot
stems is more elongated. Leaf sheathes
grow up around it, protecting it. This is
true to some extent of almost all
monocots. Monocots rarely produce
secondary growth and are therefore
seldom woody, with Palms and Bamboo
being notable exceptions. However, many
monocot stems increase in diameter via
anomalous secondary growth.

Gymnosperm stems …

All gymnosperms are woody plants. Their

stems are similar in structure to woody
dicots except that most gymnosperms
produce only tracheids in their xylem, not
the vessels found in dicots. Gymnosperm
wood also often contains resin ducts.
Woody dicots are called hardwoods, e.g.
oak, maple and walnut. In contrast,
softwoods are gymnosperms, such as
pine, spruce and fir.

The trunk of this redwood tree is its

stem.

Tasmanian tree fern

Fern stems …

Most ferns have rhizomes with no

vertical stem. The exception is tree ferns,
with vertical stems up to about 20
metres. The stem anatomy of ferns is
more complicated than that of dicots
because fern stems often have one or
more leaf gaps in cross section. A leaf
gap is where the vascular tissue
branches off to a frond. In cross section,
the vascular tissue does not form a
complete cylinder where a leaf gap
occurs. Fern stems may have
solenosteles or dictyosteles or variations
of them. Many fern stems have phloem
tissue on both sides of the xylem in
cross-section.

Relation to xenobiotics
Foreign chemicals such as air
pollutants,[3] herbicides and pesticides
can damage stem structures.

Economic importance

White and green asparagus – crispy stems are the

edible parts of this vegetable
There are thousands of species whose
stems have economic uses. Stems
provide a few major staple crops such as
potato and taro. Sugarcane stems are a
major source of sugar. Maple sugar is
obtained from trunks of maple trees.
Vegetables from stems are asparagus,
bamboo shoots, cactus pads or
nopalitos, kohlrabi, and water chestnut.
The spice, cinnamon is bark from a tree
trunk. Gum arabic is an important food
additive obtained from the trunks of
Acacia senegal trees. Chicle, the main
ingredient in chewing gum, is obtained
from trunks of the chicle tree.
Medicines obtained from stems include
quinine from the bark of cinchona trees,
camphor distilled from wood of a tree in
the same genus that provides cinnamon,
and the muscle relaxant curare from the
bark of tropical vines.

Wood is used in thousands of ways, e.g.

buildings, furniture, boats, airplanes,
wagons, car parts, musical instruments,
sports equipment, railroad ties, utility
poles, fence posts, pilings, toothpicks,
matches, plywood, coffins, shingles,
barrel staves, toys, tool handles, picture
frames, veneer, charcoal and firewood.
Wood pulp is widely used to make paper,
paperboard, cellulose sponges,
cellophane and some important plastics
and textiles, such as cellulose acetate
and rayon. Bamboo stems also have
hundreds of uses, including paper,
buildings, furniture, boats, musical
instruments, fishing poles, water pipes,
plant stakes, and scaffolding. Trunks of
palm trees and tree ferns are often used
for building. Stems of Reed are an
important building material for use in
thatching in some areas.

Tannins used for tanning leather are

obtained from the wood of certain trees,
such as quebracho. Cork is obtained
from the bark of the cork oak. Rubber is
obtained from the trunks of Hevea
brasiliensis. Rattan, used for furniture
and baskets, is made from the stems of
tropical vining palms. Bast fibers for
textiles and rope are obtained from
stems include flax, hemp, jute and ramie.
The earliest paper was obtained from the
stems of papyrus by the ancient
Egyptians.

Amber is fossilized sap from tree trunks;

it is used for jewelry and may contain
ancient animals. Resins from conifer
wood are used to produce turpentine and
rosin. Tree bark is often used as a mulch
and in growing media for container
plants. It also can become the natural
habitat of lichens.
Some ornamental plants are grown
mainly for their attractive stems, e.g.:

White bark of paper birch

Twisted branches of corkscrew willow
and Harry Lauder's walking stick
(Corylus avellana 'Contorta')
Red, peeling bark of paperbark maple

References
1. Raven, Peter H., Ray Franklin Evert,
and Helena Curtis (1981). Biology of
Plants. New York: Worth Publishers.
ISBN 0-87901-132-7.
2. Goebel, K.E.v. (1969) [1905].
Organography of plants, especially of
the Archegoniatae and Spermaphyta.
 New York: Hofner publishing
company.
3. C. Michael Hogan. 2010. "Abiotic
factor" . Encyclopedia of Earth. Emily
Monosson and C. Cleveland, eds.
National Council for Science and the
Environment Archived 2013-06-08
at the Wayback Machine.
Washington, D.C.

Further reading
Speck, T.; Burgert, I. (2011). "Plant
Stems: Functional Design and
Mechanics". Annual Review of
Materials Research. 41: 169–193.
Bibcode:2011AnRMS..41..169S .
 doi:10.1146/annurev-matsci-062910-
100425 .

External links
Media related to Plant stems at
Wikimedia Commons

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