White and green asparagus - stems are the edible parts of this vegetable

A stem is one of two main structural axes of a vascular plant. The stem is normally divided into nodes and internodes, the nodes hold leaves, flowers, cones, axillary buds, or other stems etc.

The term "shoots" is often confused with "stems". A "shoot" generally refers to new fresh plant growth including both stems and other structures like leaves or flowers.