After an hour's journey, on a dry, not high elevation, they chanced upon gigantic thistles having stems as thick as the trunk of a tree and flowers the size of a man's head.
"In Desert and Wilderness"
Henryk Sienkiewicz
On the ridge above them a line of cocoanut trees drooped their great leaves, while over their heads the long bamboo stems swayed to every breath of air.
"The Locusts' Years"
Mary Helen Fee
Some of them of course go farther than others, but they would all still leave us rent, wages, and profits, the three main stems of individualism.
"Contemporary Socialism"
John Rae