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The stem, or body, of a tree, apart from its limbs and roots; the main stem, without the branches; stock; stalk. About the mossy trunk I wound me soon, For, high from ground, the branches would require Thy utmost reach. Milton.

A fleshy, rounded stem or root, usually containing starchy matter, as the potato or arrowroot; a thickened root-stock. See Illust. of Tuberous.

A plant (Polianthes tuberosa) with a tuberous root and a liliaceous flower. It is much cultivated for its beautiful and fragrant white blossoms.

Any plant which habitually breaks away from its roots in the autumn, and is driven by the wind, as a light, rolling mass, over the fields and prairies; as witch grass, wild indigo, Amarantus albus, etc.

ted cone; narrow at the base, and broad at the apex; as, a turbinated ovary, pericarp, or root.

That upper stratum of earth and vegetable mold which is filled with the roots of grass and other small plants, so as to adhere and form a kind of mat; sward; sod. At his head a grass-green turf. Shak. The Greek historian sets her in the field on a high heap of turves. Milton.

The root or rootstock of the Curcuma longa. It is externally grayish, but internally of a deep, lively yellow or saffron color, and has a slight aromatic smell, and a bitterish, slightly acrid taste. It is used for a dye, a medicine, a condiment, and a chemical test.

The edible, fleshy, roundish, or somewhat conical, root of a cruciferous plant (Brassica campestris, var. Napus); also, the plant itself. [Formerly written also turnep.] Swedish turnip (Bot.), a kind of turnip. See Ruta-baga. -- Turnip flea (Zoöl.), a small flea-beetle (Haltica, or Phyllotreta, striolata), which feeds…

The root of Ipomoea Turpethum, a plant of Ceylon, Malabar, and Australia, formerly used in medicine as a purgative; -- sometimes called vegetable turpeth.

The euphonic modification of a root vowel sound by the influence of a, u, or especially i, in the syllable which formerly followed.

A stratum of clay lying beneath a coal bed, often containing the roots of coal plants, especially the Stigmaria.

hful agent or servant. My feet, through wine, unfaithful to their weight. Pope. His honor rooted in dishonor stood, And faith unfaithful kept him falsely true. Tennyson.

terpillar has a prominent horn on its back; -- called also unicorn prominent. -- Unicorn root (Bot.), a name of two North American plants, the yellow-flowered colicroot (Aletris farinosa) and the blazing star (Chamælirium luteum). Both are used in medicine. -- Unicorn shell (Zoöl.), any one of several species of mari…

Any plant of the genus Valeriana. The root of the officinal valerian (V. officinalis) has a strong smell, and is much used in medicine as an antispasmodic. Greek valerian (Bot.), a plant (Polemonium cæruleum) with blue or white flowers, and leaves resembling those of the officinal valerian.

Performance to, or obtained from, valerian root; specifically, designating an acid which is usually called valeric acid.

the typical one (called also inactive valeric acid), C4H9CO2H, is obtained from valerian root and other sources, as a corrosive, mobile, oily liquid, having a strong acid taste, and an odor of old cheese. Active valeric acid, a metameric variety which turns the plane of polarization to the right, although formed by th…

To grow, as plants, by nutriment imbibed by means of roots and leaves; to start into growth; to sprout; to germinate. See dying vegetables life sustain, See life dissolving vegetate again. Pope.

imal or of one of its parts; hemal; abdominal; as, the ventral fin of a fish; the ventral root of a spinal nerve; -- opposed to Ant: dorsal.

A yellowish amorphous alkaloid extracted from the rootstock of Veratrum album.

genus Veratrum. Veratric acid (Chem.), an acid occurring, together with veratrine, in the root of white hellebore (Veratrum album), and in sabadilla seed; -- extracted as a white crystalline substance which is related to protocatechuic acid.