224 



HUTCHINSON'S POPULAR BOTANY 



genus of evergreen shrubs, consisting of only four species, which bears 

 its flowers in much the same manner ; indeed, they have received on that 

 account the appropriate name of Phyllocladus, from the Greek phullon, leaf, 

 and klados, a branch. They belong to the Cone-bearing order (Goniferce) 

 and are natives of Borneo and New Zealand. Somewhat analogous to the 

 leaf branches of this family are the flat two-edged membranous branches 

 of the Arrow-jointed Genista (G. sagittalis, fig. 284), a not uncommon plant 

 in English gardens. 



Branches which are arrested in their growth to form hard points are 

 known as thorns or spines. Thus the thorns of the Hawthorn (Cratcegus 

 oxyacantha, Blackthorn (Prunus spinosa, fig. 285), Spiny Rest-harrow 

 (Ononis spinosa), etc., are simply metamorphosed branches ; for they 

 contain, like true branches, fibro-vascular bundles. Under cultivation the 

 thorns often disappear, and fruitful branches are borne in their stead a fact 

 which suggests the interesting inquiry, What .is the purpose of thorns in 

 the economy of Nature ? Dr. Burnett offered an ingenious answer to this 

 question upwards of seventy years ago, though possibly even he is indebted 



[E. Step. 



FIG. 279. BRAMBLE (Rubus fruticosus). 



A. portion of a branch laden with its juicy fruit the ever-popular Blackberry. 



