APPENDIX. 309 



Other plants they assume other figures. In the natural order 

 of Grasses it is solitary, forming a membranous scale, which 

 arises from the summit of the sheath, and like it encloses 

 the culm. 2. Bractca, The Floral Leaf^ a leafy appendage 

 to the flower or its stalk. It is of a variety of forms. 3. Spi- 

 na, a thorn, which proceeds from the wood itself. 4. AcU' 

 leus, a prickle, arises from the bark only and comes off with 

 it. 5. Cirrus, a tendril. This is intended solely to sustain 



 weak and climbing stems upon more firm and sturdy ones. 

 Tendrils or claspers when young are usually put forth in a 

 straight direction ; but they presently become spiral. 6. 

 Glandula, a gland, a little tumour discharging a fluid. They 

 occur in the substance of the leaves of the Myrtle, Lemon, 

 and common St. John's Wort. 7. Pilus, a hair. This is an 

 , jgi, excretory duct of a bristle like form. In the Nettle it is tu- 

  bular and pervious, having each a bag of poison at its base, 

 ^klike the fang of a serpent. But the hairs which clothe many 

 ^Kplants are merely a protection against cold, heat, or insects. 

 ^Kt'- The several kinds of Inflorescence, or modes of flowering 

 ^B>are as follows. 1. The Umbel, a number of flower stalks is- 

 ^B suing from a common centre, diverging like the rays of an 

 I^R'Umbrella, bearing their flowers on the summit, and raising 

 ^^^ them about the same height. The Carrot, Parsnip, and 

 Hemlock are familiar examples, which, with all others like 

 them in this respect, are called umbelliferous plants. 2. A 

 Cyme has the general appearance of an umbel, and agrees 

 with it so far that its common stalks all spring from one cen- 

 tre, but differs in having those stalks variously and alternate- 

 ly subdivided, as in the Elder and other species of Viburnum. 

 3. A Corymb is a spike whose partial flower stalks are 

 gradually longer as they stand lower, so that all the flowers 

 are nearly on a level. The flowers of Yarrow grow in this 

 manner. 4. A Fascicle is an assemblage of flowers more 

 densely arranged than in the Corymb, as in the Sweet- Will- 

 iam. 5. A Spike is an assemblage of flowers arising from 

 the sides of a common stem, as in the herdsgrass. The 

 flowers are commonly all crowded close together, but some- 

 times they form separate groups, as in some Mints. 6. A 

 Raceme, or cluster, as in the Currant. 7. A Head, or Tuft, 

 (capitulum) is an assemblage of flowers ijpon the extremity 

 of the branch or stem, and arranged in a globular, oval or 

 cylindrical form, as in the Globe Amaranth, and in several 



