Stem
The architecture that reaches the light.
The stem is the plant's architecture and its transport highway. It raises the leaves toward the light and carries water and sap between the roots and the leaves. Its way of growing — upright, climbing, creeping, twining, or hidden underground as a rhizome — is a strategy for reaching light and space. Reading a stem means understanding how the plant occupies the world.
The diversity of the stem
Browse the photos with the arrows. Click the image to open it fullscreen.
The forms and habits of the stem
Each part has a role. Look at the photo, read its description — let the plant speak.
Erect stem
Stem that grows vertically and stands upright without support.
Climbing stem
Stem that rises by clinging to a support (tendrils, holdfasts…).
Creeping stem
Stem that runs horizontally along the ground and can root there.
Twining stem
Stem that coils in a spiral around a support to climb.
Rhizome
Horizontal underground stem — not a root — that stores reserves and spreads the plant.
Choose a stem. Does it stand upright, climb, or creep? How does it reach the light? Post your photo.
- 01 Take a photo of the stem and its parts.
- 02 Name what you see: Erect stem, Climbing stem, Creeping stem.
- 03 Post your photo in the group and compare with the community.
