STIPULES, BRACTS, AND SCALES. 



99 



CHAPTER XIX. 



STIPULES, BRACTS, AND SCALES. 



BUT now I want to tell 

 you about certain expan- 

 sions which sometimes 

 grow on each side at the 

 bottom of the petiole, or 

 stalk of a leaf. They are 

 like small leaves or leaflets, 

 but they are not always 

 green in colour. Some- 

 times they are whitish or 

 brown, and perhaps this 

 is why they are called 

 " stipules"* They vary a 

 good deal in shape, but 

 are generally small, and 

 from some plants they 

 very soon fall off. Let us 



The green stipules are easily seen upon willow, pea, 

 bean, and the wild pansy. (Fig. 81.) 



* From the Latin "stipula," straw, husk. 



