APPENDAGES TO PLANTS. 



'"^-^^Z Fig. 63, 



as emblematical of yom" own mortality ; but, in examining their struc- 

 ture, you maybe led to admire and adore the power which formed them 



Appendages to Plants. 



Plants have a set of organs, the uses of which are less apparent 

 than those we have been considering; but we should not infer, be- 

 cause the design for which they have been formed, is in some mea- 

 sure concealed from us, that they were made for no purpose, or exist 

 by mere accident ; let us rather, vdth humility, acknowledge that this 

 Ijlindness must be ov;ing to the limited nature of our own faculties. 

 It would be impious for us to imagine, that all the works of God 

 which we cannot comprehend are useless. 



The organs to which wc now refer are called by the general name 

 of appendages; they are the following : Stipules., Prickles, Tliorns, 

 Glands, Stings, Scales, Tendrils, Pubescence, and Bracts. 



1st. Stipules are membra- 

 nous or leafy scales, usually 

 in pairs, at, or near the base 

 of the leaf^ or petiole. The 

 stipules furnish characters 

 used in botanical distinctions. 

 Theyare various in their forms 

 and situations, are found in 

 most plants, though sometimes wanting. In the garden violet, viola 

 tricolor, (Fig. 63, a, a,) the stipules are of that form called lijrate- 

 vinnatifd, wdiile the true leaf (6) is oblong and crenate. The most 

 natural situation of the stipules is in pairs, one on each side of the 

 base of the foot-stalk, as in the sweet pea ; some stipules fall oif 

 almost as soon as the leaves are expanded, but, in general, they re- 

 main as long as the leaves. 



2d. Prickles arise from the bark ; they are straight, hooked, or 

 forked. They are usually found upon the stem, as in the rose ; but 

 in some cases, they cover the petiole, as in the raspberry; in others, 

 they are found upon the leaf or the calyx, and in some instances, 

 upon the berry ; as in the gooseberry. 



3d. Thorns are distinguished from prickles, by growing from the 

 woody part of the plant, while the prickle proceeds only from the 

 bark. On stripping the bark from the rose-bush, the prickles will 

 come away with it ; but let the same experiment be made with a 

 thorn-bush, and although the bark may be separated, the thorn will 

 still remain projecting from the wood. 



Fig. 64. In this draw- 



ing, you will 

 observe the 

 thorn, (a,) to 

 remain on the 

 stem, while the 

 bark [b) has 



been peeled off. In the prickle (c) the whole appears separated from 

 the plant. The thorns, in some plants, have been known to disap- 

 pear by cultivation. The great Linnseus imagined, that in such 

 cases, the tress were divested of their natural ferocity, and became 

 tame. We may smile at such a fanciful idea, but should remember 

 that great men have their weaknesses ; and that when persons be- 

 come enthusiasts in any science, they are in danger of tracing anal- 

 ogies or resemblances, which exist in their own minds, raiher th'in 



Ditieieiu kinds of appendages— Stipules— Prickles— Thorns— Thorns in some cases 

 Riude to disappear. 



