stem (Q1504)

The entire axial system of a shoot, or a component, primary or higher-order (branch) axis of the shoot; differentiated anatomically and morphologically into nodes and internodes, from the former of which it branches exogenously and bears leaves, bracts, and/or inflorescences; usually growing above ground level, but sometimes structurally and functionally specialized and growing underground (e.g., rhizome, tuber) or upon the surface of the ground (e.g., stolon). Although sometimes phenotypically distinctive and often treated separately for descriptive purposes, the axial system of an inflorescence, excluding pedicels or parts of them in some cases, is properly stem in the above general sense.