The Elements of Botany, For Beginners and For Schools

by Asa Gray

90. As to direction taken in growing, stems may, instead of growing upright or erect, be

Diffuse, that is, loosely spreading in all directions.

Declined, when turned or bending over to one side.

Decumbent, reclining on the ground, as if too weak to stand.

Assurgent or Ascending, rising obliquely upwards.

Procumbent or Prostrate, lying flat on the ground from the first.

Creeping or Repent, prostrate on or just beneath the ground, and striking root, as does the White Clover, the Partridge-berry, etc.

Climbing or Scandent, ascending by clinging to other objects for support, whether by tendrils, as do the Pea, Grape-Vine, and Passion-flower and Virginia Creeper (Fig. [92], [93]); by their twisting leaf-stalks, as the Virgin's Bower; or by rootlets, like the Ivy, Poison Ivy, and Trumpet Creeper.

Twining or Voluble, when coiling spirally around other stems or supports; like the Morning-Glory (Fig. [90]) and the Hop.