{{Short description|Structural part of trees and plants}} {{other uses}} thumb|Tree and plants branches of several sizes [[File:Kameldornbaum Sossusvlei.jpg|thumb|The branches of this dead camel thorn tree within Sossusvlei are clearly visible]] thumb|The branches and leaves of a tree [[File:Strom roka borovica velke borove 03.jpg|thumb|Looking up into the branch structure of a ''Pinus sylvestris'' tree]] thumb|Leafless tree branches during winter A '''branch''', also called a '''ramus''' in botany, is a stem that grows off from another stem, or when structures like veins in leaves are divided into smaller veins.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Pell |first1=Susan K. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=INOyCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA35 |title=A Botanist's Vocabulary: 1300 Terms Explained and Illustrated |last2=Angell |first2=Bobbi |date=2016-05-25 |publisher=Timber Press |isbn=978-1-60469-563-2 |language=en}}</ref>
== History and etymology == In Old English, there are numerous words for branch, including {{lang|ang|seten}}, {{lang|ang|stofn}}, {{lang|ang|telgor}}, and {{lang|ang|hrīs}}. There are also numerous descriptive words, such as {{lang|ang|blēd}} (that is, something that has bled, or 'bloomed', out), {{lang|ang|bōgincel}} (literally 'little bough'), {{lang|ang|ōwæstm}} (literally 'on growth'), and {{lang|ang|tūdornes}} (literally 'offspringing'). Numerous other words for twigs and boughs abound, including {{lang|ang|tān}}, which still survives as the ''-toe'' in ''mistletoe''.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.bartleby.com/61/64/M0346400.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070502092508/http://www.bartleby.com/61/64/M0346400.html |title=mistletoe |date=2000 |archive-date=May 2, 2007 |work=The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition |via=Bartleby.com }}</ref>
Latin words for branch are {{lang|la|ramus}} or {{lang|la|cladus}}. The latter term is an affix found in other modern words such as ''cladodont'' (prehistoric sharks with branched teeth), ''cladode'' (flattened leaf-like branches), or ''cladogram'' (a branched diagram showing relations among organisms).
==Woody branches== Large branches are known as '''boughs''' and small branches are known as '''twigs'''.<ref name="IntrotoPoetry">{{cite book |last=Driscoll |first=Michael |author2=Meredith Hamiltion |author3=Marie Coons |title=A Child's Introduction Poetry |publisher=Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers |location=New York |date=May 2003 |page=10 |isbn=1-57912-282-5 |url=http://search.barnesandnoble.com/A-Childs-Introduction-to-Poetry/Michael-Driscoll/e/9781579122829 |archive-date=2008-12-01 |access-date=2009-04-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081201191730/http://search.barnesandnoble.com/A-Childs-Introduction-to-Poetry/Michael-Driscoll/e/9781579122829 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The term ''twig'' usually refers to a terminus, while ''bough'' refers only to branches coming directly from the trunk.
Due to a broad range of species of trees, branches and twigs can be found in many different shapes and sizes. While branches can be nearly horizontal, vertical, or diagonal, the majority of trees have upwardly diagonal branches. A number of mathematical properties are associated with tree branchings; they are natural examples of fractal patterns in nature, and, as observed by Leonardo da Vinci, their cross-sectional areas closely follow the da Vinci branching rule.
===Specific terms=== A bough can also be called a '''limb''' or '''arm''', and though these are arguably metaphors, both are widely accepted synonyms for bough.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=limb| title = "limb" on Merriam-Webster.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=arm| title = "arm" on Merriam-Webster.}}</ref> A '''crotch''' or fork is an area where a trunk splits into two or more boughs. A twig is frequently referred to as a '''sprig''' as well, especially when it has been plucked.<ref>[http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/dictionary/DictionaryResults.aspx?refid=1861712698 "sprig" on Encarta.]{{dead link|date=November 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Other words for twig include '''branchlet''', '''spray''', and '''surcle''', as well as the technical terms '''surculus''' and '''ramulus'''. Branches found under larger branches can be called '''underbranches'''.
Some branches from specific trees have their own names, such as '''osiers''' and '''withes''' or withies, which come from willows. Often trees have certain words which, in English, are naturally collocated, such as holly and mistletoe, which usually employ the phrase "sprig of" (as in, a "sprig of mistletoe"). Similarly, the branch of a cherry tree is generally referred to as a "cherry branch", while other such formations (i.e., "acacia branch" or "orange branch") carry no such alliance. A good example of this versatility is oak, which could be referred to as variously an "oak branch", an "oaken branch", a "branch of oak", or the "branch of an oak tree".{{citation needed|date=February 2023}}
Once a branch has been cut or in any other way removed from its source, it is most commonly referred to as a '''stick''', and a stick employed for some purpose (such as walking, spanking, or beating) is often called a '''rod'''. Thin, flexible sticks are called switches, '''wands''', '''shrags''', or '''vimina''' (singular '''vimen''').
==See also== {{wiktionary|branch}} * Basal shoot * Root * Shoot * Stolon * Turion (botany)
==References== {{reflist}}
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Category:Plant morphology