INTRODUCTION. 



Sword-shaped, as in Iris, p. 596. 



STIPULES. The base of the leaf-stalk is not unfre- 

 quently furnished with two sheathing wings ; these are 

 called stipules. The leaf of the Rose has oblong 

 stipules at its base. 



BRACTS. Beneath the flower are frequently situated 

 small leaves called bracts. Sometimes they are mere 

 scales, as in the Broom-rape, p. 451 ; but more fre- 

 quently they are only to be distinguished from true 

 leaves by their smaller size, as in Evening Primrose, 

 p. 213. 



In the umbelliferous Tribe, p. 246, they often grow, 

 several in a whorl, at the base of the general and 

 partial umbels ; and in Compound Flowers, p. 319, they 

 are yet more numerous at the base of the heads of 

 flowers. When they grow in this form, they are termed 

 an involucre, (from involvo, to wrap up, because they 

 enclose the flowers before expansion.) 



THE FLOWER. This, as it is the most ornamental, so 

 it is the most important part of the plant, being rarely 

 produced until the juices fit for its nourishment have 

 been selected by the roots and matured by the leaves, 

 and containing all the apparatus necessary for perfect- 

 ing seeds. In flowering plants, besides the parts which 

 are indispensable to the ripening of seeds, there are 

 others which evidently serve as a protection, and others, 

 again, the use of which is not known. The flower, 

 however, generally, being essential to the continuance 



