144 SITUATION AKD POSITION OP LEAVES. 



nature as furnishing food to the brute crea- 

 tion, are subjects foreign to our present pur- 

 pose, and need not here be insisted upon. 

 Their essential importance to the plant which 

 bears them, and the curious functions by 

 which they contribute to its health and in- 

 crease, will presently be detailed at length. 

 We shall tirst explain their different situa- 

 tions, insertions, forms, and surfaces, which 

 are of the greatest possible use in systemati- 

 cal botany. 



The leaves are wanting in many plantSj 

 called for that reason plant ce aph/llce, as 

 Salicornia, Engl Bot. t. 415, and I69I, 

 Stapelia variegata, Curt. Mag. t. 26, glaii- 

 dulijiora, Exot. Bot. t. 71, and all the spe- 

 eies of that genus. In such cases the surface 

 of the stem must perform all their n^.cessary 

 functions. 



1. With respect to Situation and Position, 

 Folia radicalia, radical leaves, are such as 

 spring from the root, like those of the 

 Cowslip, Engl Bot. t. 5, and Ajiemohe 

 Pulsatilla, t. 51. 



. Caulina, stem-leaves, grow or^ the stem 



