Page:An introduction to physiological and systematical botany (1st edition).djvu/153

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KINDS OF STEMS.
123

Engl. Bot. t. 28, and Hydrangea hortensis, Sm. Ic. Pict. t. 12.

Anceps, two-edged, as Sisyrinchium striatum, Sm. Ic. Pict. t. 9. S. gramineum, Curt. Mag. t. 464, and some of the genus Lathyrus.

Trigonus, or Triangularis, triangular or three-edged, as Cactus triangularis, Plukenet, t. 29. f. 3.

Triqueter, three-sided, is applied to a stem with 3 flat sides.

Tetragonus, or Quadrangularis, square, as Lamium album, White Dead-nettle, Engl. Bot. t. 768, and a multitude of other plants.

Pentagonus, or Quinquangularis, five-sided, as Asparagus horridus, Cavanilles Ic. t. 136, where however the character is not well expressed.

When the number of angles is either variable, or more than five, it is usual merely to describe the stem as angulosus, angular, except where the precise number makes a specific difference, as in the genus Cactus.

Alatus, winged, when the angles are extended into flat leafy borders, as Passi-