CHAP. II RAMENTA. 75 



originating in the bark and giving it a rough or 

 chopped appearance. Hence a branch or stem 

 that is covered with thin and dry scales or flaps is 

 said to be ramentaceous, as in the case of Tamarix 

 Gallica or French Tamarisk ; or, as in that of the 

 Scotch-fir (PL III. Fig. 10.) and other Firs, pro- 

 ducing their leaves in pairs, in which they accom- 

 pany the stipulae in the form of small scales, ori- 

 ginating in the bark, and persisting after the leaves 

 fall. 



But the term seems now to be applied to various Indefinite 

 other appendages, which do not even originate in uon'of 

 the bark, or which are, at least, not persistent. lt theterHX 

 has been applied by some authors to the small and 

 strap-like appendages which several of the Begonite 

 bear on their leaves ; but which are scarcely per- 

 haps entitled to the appellation.* It has been ap- 

 plied by Willdenow to several leaf-like appendages 

 which he represents as being common to all plants 

 whatever, under one modification or another, ap- 

 pearing about the time of the opening of the leaves, 

 and falling, as he says, soon after.-{~ It is possible, 

 however, that this remark may have partly originat- 

 ed in the appearance assumed by the lower scales of 

 the bud which invest the shoot by the base, and 

 continue attached to it, in many plants, for a con- 

 siderable time after the upper scales have fallen off. 



But however this may be, the appendages at- 

 tached to the young shoots of the Oak-tree, which 



? Smith's Introduction, 227. f Princip. of Hot. p. 48, 



