Scape (botany) Scape (botany) In botany, a scape is a long internode forming the basal part or the whole of a peduncle. Typically it takes the form of a long, leafless flowering stem rising directly from a bulb, rhizome, or similar subterranean or underwater structure. The scapes of scallions, chives, garlic chives, and garlic are used as vegetables. The word "scape" (Latin "scapus", from Greek σκᾶπος), as used in botany, is fairly vague and arbitrary; various sources provide divergent definitions. Some older usages simply amount to a stem or stalk in general, but modern formal usage tends to favour the likes of
History of botany books, known as herbals showed that botany was still a part of medicine, as it had been for most of ancient history. Authors of herbals were often curators of university gardens, and most herbals were derivative compilations of classic texts, especially "De Materia Medica". However, the need for accurate and detailed plant descriptions meant that some herbals were more botanical than medicinal. German Otto Brunfels's (1464–1534) "Herbarum Vivae Icones" (1530) contained descriptions of about 47 species new to science combined with accurate illustrations. His fellow countryman Hieronymus Bock's (1498–1554) "Kreutterbuch" of 1539 described plants he found in nearby woods and