Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - stipe

 noun  Etymology: New Latin ~s, from Latin, tree trunk; akin to Latin stipare to press together — more at stiff  Date: 1785 a usually short stalk of a plant or fungus: as  a. the stem supporting the cap of a fungus  b. a part that is similar to a ~ and connects the holdfast and blade of a frondose alga  c. the petiole of a fern frond  d. a prolongation of the receptacle beneath the ovary of a seed plant  • ~d adjective