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A branch (American English IPA: /ˈbræntʃ/, British English IPA: /ˈbrɑːntʃ/) or tree branch (sometimes referred to in botany as a ramus) is a woody structural member connected to but not part of the central trunk of a tree (or sometimes a shrub). Large branches are known as boughs and small branches are known as twigs.

While branches can be nearly horizontal, vertical, or diagonal, the majority of trees have upwardly diagonal branches.

The term "twig" often refers to a terminal branch, while "bough" refers only to branches coming directly from the trunk.

Contents 1 Words 1.1 Specific terms 1.2 History and etymology 2 Images 3 See also 4 References

Words

Because of the enormous quantity of branches in the world, there are a variety of names in English alone for them. In general however, unspecific words for a branch (such as rise and rame) have been replaced by the word branch itself.

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.¹²

A twig is frequently referred to as a sprig as well, especially when it has been plucked.³ 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]".

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).

History and etymology

In Old English there are numerous words for branch, including seten, stofn, telgor, and hrīs. There are also numerous descriptive words, such as blēd (that is, something that has bled, or "bloomed", out), bōgincel (literally "little bough"), ōwæstm (literally "on growth"), and tūdornes (literally "offspringing"). Numerous other words for twigs and boughs abound, including tān, which still surves as the "-toe" in mistletoe.⁴

Images

Branch tied up with a piece of bast.	Twigs on a tree in Karawanken of Austria.	The boughs of trees in Konary, Poland.	Twisted branches in Emirgan Park, Istanbul.
Tree branches in Tenerife, Spain.	The branch of a bristlecone pine in the Snake Range of Nevada.	A branch of orange eye.	The branch of a sawtooth oak (Quercus acutissima) in Porto, Portugal.
A nectarine spray.	The branch of a Rocky Mountain juniper (Juniperus scopulorum).	A branch of devil's claw (Acacia greggii) in Las Vegas.	A branch of red acacia (Acacia seyal) in Baden-Württemberg, Germany.
A branch of whitethorn acacia (Acacia constricta) in Las Vegas.	A cherry branch in Paris.	A branch of porcupine tomato (Solanum pyracanthum) in Krefeld, Germany.	A branch of lodgepole pine in North Dakota.
A willow bough in Bechtelsville, Pennsylvania.	Turkish pine branches in Athens.	A banyan branch in Calcutta, India.	The boughs of a floss silk tree in Rosario, Argentina.

See also

• Root
• Trunk (botany)
• Twig
• Plant stem
• Runner
• Shoot
• Sucker
• Wand
• Switch (rod)
• Staff (stick)

References

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• This page was last modified on 5 January 2009, at 15:56.

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