70 GLANDS. FART I. 



rose ; in others it is a sort of honied exudation, as 

 in the glands of Vipurnum Opulus.* 



Utility in Linnaeus regards the glands as affording good and 

 discrimi- legitimate marks of specific discrimination ; and in 

 the distribution of the species of some genera 

 they are altogether indispensable. Thus they form 

 the only sure mark of distinction between the 

 Peach and Almond, otherwise so very similar that 

 the one can scarcely be discriminated from the other. 

 And yet the distinction is easily made with the 

 aid of the glands. For the leaf of the Almond is 

 beset with glands at the base which are situated 

 between the serratures, while the leaf of the Peach 

 has none. 



SECTION III. 



Tendrils. 



Defini- THE tendril is a thread-shaped and generally 

 spiral process issuing from the stem, branch, or 

 petiole, and sometimes even from the expansion of 

 the leaf itself; being an organ by which plants 

 of weak and climbing stems attach themselves to 

 other plants, or other substances for support ; for 

 which purpose it seems to be well fitted by nature, 

 the tendril being much stronger than a branch of 

 the same size. 



* Smith's Intro, p. 22. 



