38 APPENDAGES. 



tion. On this account two terms are occasionally combined to 

 express a form between them, as Ovate-lanceolate, (ovato-lanceo- 

 latum,) lanceolate, inclining 1 to ovate ; or Heart-ovate, (cordato- 

 ovatis,) as in ground Laurel, Epigtea repens. 



When shape or any other character cannot be precisely denned, 

 sub is prefixed to the term used, as siibrotundum, roundish ; sub- 

 sessile , not Destitute of a footstalk. By the judicious use of such, 

 means all necessary precision is attained. 



2. The leaves furnish very elegant and natural marks in discrim- 

 inating the species of plants. ^Numerous specific names, as well 

 as characters, which are both elegant and descriptive, are derived 

 from the leaves, as Pyrola'rotundifoIia ) 'RQ\md leaved Wintergreen ; 

 Convallaria bifolia, Two-leaved Convallaria ; Jlster cordifohus 

 Heart-leaved Aster. 



CHAP. IV. 



APPENDAGES TO A PLANT. 



THE APPENDAGES consist of the appendages, 

 properly so called, the arms, the supports, and the pu- 

 bescence or covering of plants. 



I. Appendages to the Leaf and to the Flower. 



1. STIPUXE, (stipula.) PI. 8, fig. 7 & 8. a. a. A 

 leafy appendage to the proper leaves, or to the foot- 

 stalks. Ex. Rose, Rosa ; Pea, Pisum. 



Observation. 1. It is commonly situated at the base of the foot- 

 stalk in pairs, as it is in the above examples, and is extremely dif- 

 ferent in different plants. 



2 Some stipules fall off almost as soon as the leaves are expand- 

 ed, which is the case with the Tulip-tree, Liriodcndron tuUpifera ; 

 in general they last as long as the leaves. 



3. The stipule in the grasses is peculiar, consisting of an inter- 

 nal white membrane, crowning the sheath of the leaf and clasping 

 the culm. 



2, BRACT, (bractea.) PI. 9, fig, 7. The floral leaf; 

 a leafy appendage to the flower or its stalk, differing in 

 shape or colour, or both from the other leaves of the 

 plant. Ex. Lime-tree, Tilea, in which it serves as a 

 wing to the seed. 



