184 BUDS AND STIPULES 



CHAPTER VII 



ON THE SUBSIDIARY USES OF STIPULES 



The general use of stipules is, as we have seen, to 



cover and protect the bud. This is, however, by no 



means the only function they perform. Though very 



often leafy, they are generally 



too small to be of much use as 



organs of assimilation. 



There are, however, various 



gradations. Some, indeed, are 



quite minute, as in the Holly 



(fig. 308) and ITymencmthera 



(fig. 29, p. 24). 

 Fig. 308. -Shoot of Holly, T / 



showing successive leaves In other cases, though smal- 



tk l 's't) n ^ StiPUlGS ler than the leaf-blades, the stip- 

 ules assist in performing similar 

 functions. In some the assimilation must be trifling, 

 as in the stipulate species of Helianthemum, in Bibes, 

 and many others ; in others it is substantial, though 

 less than in the leaf-blades, as in the Roses ; in others 

 equal to that of the leaf- blades, as in the Pansy (fig. 309), 

 where the stipules are large, oblong, and pinnatifid, with 

 three to six linear lobes on the external side ; or Galium 



