Stem

Stems are the aboveground structures that bear the plant’s leaves and flowers. The stem provides a host of services to the plant:

• It provides a pathway for transporting water up to the leaves, and moving the sugars produced in the leaves down to nourish the roots.
• It acts as a sturdy mast to hold up the leaves and help orient them for maximum exposure to sunlight.
• It can act as a storage site for carbohydrates.

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