82 



INFL ORESCENCE. 



[chap. 



spines, from the axils of which spring tufts of ordinary 

 foliage -leaves, borne (as in Pine and Cedar) upon branches 

 with undeveloped internodes. Leaves tufted in this way are 

 said to be fasciculate. Stipules also are sometimes replaced 



by spines. When the blade of the 

 leaf is absent, the petiole some- 

 times becomes flattened to such 

 an extent as to look like an 

 entire leaf, in order to replace 

 the blade as an organ useful to 

 the plant. But the flattening 

 is generally vertical, so that the 

 apparent leaf is placed edgewise 

 upon the stem, instead of spread- 

 ing horizontally. By this charac- 

 ter these leaf-like petioles may 

 be generally recognised. They 

 are c.iSS.Qd.phyllodes. Sometimes 

 the true blade is partially de- 

 veloped at the extremity of the 

 phyllode, thus putting its petiolar 

 character beyond doubt. 



14. We cannot fail to have 

 observed the various ways in 

 which the flowers are borne 

 upon the stem, m gathering and 

 comparing together the com- 

 mon plants which we have had 

 occasion to use in the course of these lessons. It is 

 convenient to speak of the Flowering System, or mode 

 of arrangement of the flowers of plants, as the inflor- 

 escence. 



In the Sacred Lotus we find a solitary terminal flower, 



t iG. 54- Sacred Lotus 

 [Neluinblum speciosunt). 



