A stem is one of two main structural axes of a vascular plant, the other being the root. It supports leaves, flowers and fruits, transports water and dissolved substances between the roots and the shoots in the xylem and phloem, photosynthesis takes place here, stores nutrients, and produces new living tissue. The stem can also be called halm or haulm or culms.
Stem showing internode and nodes plus leaf petioles
This above-ground stem of Polygonum has lost its leaves, but is producing adventitious roots from the nodes.
Climbing stem of Senecio angulatus.
Decumbent stem in Cucurbita maxima.
In vascular plants, the roots are the organs of a plant that are modified to provide anchorage for the plant and take in water and nutrients into the plant body, which allows plants to grow taller and faster. They are most often below the surface of the soil, but roots can also be aerial or aerating, that is, growing up above the ground or especially above water.
Primary and secondary roots in a cotton plant
The cross-section of a barley root
Large, mature tree roots above the soil
Tree roots at Cliffs of the Neuse State Park