Stem succulent

Stem succulents are fleshy succulent columnar shaped plants which conduct photosynthesis mainly through stems not leaves. They are related by form, but not by evolution. They evolved to have similar forms and physiological characteristics by convergent evolution. Examples are tall thin Euphorbias from deserts and arid regions southern African and Madagascar, similarly shaped cacti from North America and South America, which occupy a similar evolutionary niche, and members of two genera of the family Asclepiadaceae (Hoodia and Stapelia). Shared features are a succulent stem that stores water and conducts photosynthesis, protective spines or thorns, no leaves (or highly reduced leaves), and use of CAM photosynthetisis (an opening of stomata and fixing CO2 almost exclusively at night).

References

Succulent plant

In botany, succulent plants, also known as succulents or sometimes fat plants, are plants having some parts that are more than normally thickened and fleshy, usually to retain water in arid climates or soil conditions. The word "succulent" comes from the Latin word sucus, meaning juice, or sap. Succulent plants may store water in various structures, such as leaves and stems. Some definitions also include roots, so that geophytes that survive unfavorable periods by dying back to underground storage organs may be regarded as succulents. In horticultural use, the term "succulent" is often used in a way which excludes plants that botanists would regard as succulents, such as cacti. Succulents are often grown as ornamental plants because of their striking and unusual appearance.

About 60 different plant families contain succulents. In some families, such as Cactaceae, Agavoideae, Aizoaceae, and Crassulaceae, most plants are succulents. The habitats of these water preserving plants are often in areas with high temperatures and low rainfall. Succulents have the ability to thrive on limited water sources, such as mist and dew, which makes them equipped to survive in an ecosystem which contains scarce water sources.

Stem

Stem may refer to:

Stem Christie

Stemming is a technique used in skiing for turning. The modern version is usually credited to the Austrian Mathias Zdarsky who developed it in the 1890s by combining stemming with a variation of the Christiania technique, producing the stem Christiania, or stem Christie for short. Its variations gradually replaced the telemark technique in alpine skiing.

Basic stemming consists of rotating the back of one ski, the tail, so it is at an angle to the direction of movement. This causes sideways forces that push the skier in the direction opposite of the motion of the ski. For instance, if the skier pushes the tail of the left ski outward, they will turn to the right. The Christie variation has the skier wait for the turn to commence and then lift the non-turning ski off the snow, or simply lift their body weight off of it by stepping harder on the turning ski, and rotating it to match the original turn, resulting in the two skis once again being parallel.

The stem Christie was the primary skiing technique into the 1960s, when greatly improved skiing equipment led to the widespread adoption of the parallel turn for intermediate and expert skiers. Since then the Christie has been used primarily as an beginner and intermediate technique, and was an important step in the progressive Arlberg technique that dominated ski schools until the 2000s. The introduction of parabolic skiis and new carve turn teaching methods have greatly reduced the importance of the stem Christie, but it remains common on the ski hill and is still taught at many ski schools.

Stem (Ringo Sheena song)

"Stem," also known by its Japanese translated title "Kuki" (茎) is a song written by Japanese singer Ringo Sheena and released in several versions.

Background

It was first released as a single in 2003, as "Stem (Daimyō Asobi-hen)" (茎(STEM)～大名遊ビ編～, "The Daimyō's fun version") as her 8th single and it was released on January 22, 2003 by Toshiba EMI / Virgin Music. The single version is sung in English, and was orchestrated by Toshiyuki Mori. The B-sides "Meisai" and "Ishiki" were arranged by Bakeneko Killer, a production team Sheena and Inoue formed. Nobuyoshi Araki, the prominent photographer, took the album cover.

The version featured on the album Kalk Samen Kuri no Hana, "Kuki," (茎) is sung in Japanese and arranged by Bakeneko Killer. A further version found on the vinyl edition of Kalk Samen Kuri no Hana called "Stem," (茎(STEM)) featured the album arrangement with English lyrics. It was also featured on the film Casshern's official album Our Last Day: Casshern Official Album. An English language version of "Stem" also appears on Sheena's 2007 soundtrack Heisei Fūzoku, orchestrated by Neko Saito.