FEBRUARY. 1s 
divided, and the parts of many so fine that they are like 
green threads. In some cases, as the Garden Pea, the 
middle rib is lengthened out into a ¢endri/, which has the 
power of twining round objects placed near it, and thus 
supporting the plant. These tendrils frequently spring 
from the stem. Some leaves have at the base of the stalk on 
each side a little leaf, differing in shape from the rest ; this is 
called a stipule. The use of leaves is to convert the sap 
which they obtain from the stem into a new matter, which 
returns again, nourishing all the parts as it passes. 
Thorns, prickles, and stings, are the terms: given to the 
offensive parts of plants; and fairy, woolly, and clammy 
substances are used for defence. 
The flower is formed for the purpose of multiplying the 
plant by seed, and all the different parts, so beautiful in 
colour and shape, are for this end. The small leaves, out 
of which many flowers proceed, called bracts or bractea, 
preserve them when in a very young and delicate state. 
When a bract is large, and encloses many flowers, as in the 
Arum, it is called a syatha. When many bracts are collected 
together in a whorl round several flowers, as in the Dande- 
lion, they are called an invoduere, and the same term is used 
for the few leaves seen under an umbelliferous flower. 
