ON THE SUBSIDIARY USES oi- STIPULES 187 



In the UriicacecB stipules are almost invariably 

 present, and in their form and position afford good 

 characters for the distinction of genera and larger 

 groups. In the closely allied tropical genera, Elato- 

 stema and Procris, the leaves of succeeding pairs 



Fig. 311. Adesmia bracteata. Two-thirds nat. size. 



become more or less separated and very unequal, 

 one being reduced to a very small blade, or it becomes 

 quite suppressed and is replaced by the stipules. A 

 similar reduction of leaf and replacement by the stipule 

 occurs in Forskohlea. 



