Plants - Stems and Branches

The stem is either cylindrical or compressed and consists of nodes and internodes. In most grasses, the internodes are usually hollow with a cavity lined by remains of original pith cells. But in perennials, creeping branches, stolens and ryzomes may occur. Branches arise from the axles of leaves, and when a considerable number of the axillary buds, especially from the lower notes, develop into branches,. Such branches are called intervagional branches, or stems. The youngest portions of the shoots are always well protected by the surrounding leaf sheaths.