194 The Vegetable Individual in its relation to Species. ; 
whether the branch bears nothing but a flower or not. We might 
say, all essential branches must be regarded as individuals since 
they repeat the process of specific development laterally, and can 
become independent plants, as layers, whether natural or artificial. 
‘Those branches, on the contrary, which appear as necessary mem- 
bers in the line of development which is advancing towards flower 
and fruit, and which therefore complete the series of formations 
belonging to the species, and without which the plant is either 
unable to eke out its vegetable life or to accomplish prong 
must be regarded as members of one and the same history 0 
velopment. Let us take a case where the main stem bears wae 
proper leaves, Spiciebine of the first order only bracts, _ those 
of the second order only flowers and fruit, as is really t 
in Plantago, Melilotus, Veronica officina lis and Chemateah j 
here it is evident that these three divisions cannot be isolated ; 
that all three must necessarily be present in order that the specific 
life may attain a complete representation in one individ ual.* 
Notwithstanding the importance of this discrimination between 
essential and unessential branches, it cannot, when analyzed, es 
tablish a distinction which will enable us to decide upon their im- 
portance as individuals; for even those branches which appeat 
unessential, in relation to the formation of flowers and fruit, may 
yet be essential to the plant in other relations : as when they ap- 
pear as characteristic elements of the vegetable structure, or whet 
they play any important part in the economy of the plant, as I 
have shown in eztenso elsewhere.t Nay, more; one and the 
appear either as essential or as unessential, according to circum- 
stances. en those branches which conduct the structure to @ 
higher stage of its development appear in great numbers on 4 
principal axis, as e. g., in indefinite racemose or “— inflores- 
cence, the lateral branchlets appearing as flowers are then 1n- 
sage te / speaking, necessary to the plant’s fall ‘completion 
es of formations, and in this sense essential ; but theif 
sentir is immaterial as regards this completion ; and this the 
ant itself shows in producing either a larger or a smaller nut 
ber of them ; sometimes the number is reduced to one.t There 
fore, properly speaking, only one lateral flower is essential ; and 
we may arbitrarily consider any one of the number to be t this es- 
sential one. Hence each of them may be regarded “indifferently 
as essential or unessential. ‘This is not the case in those racem™) 
and spikes which — a terminal one as is the case in many 
* [But z! hy assume (as here supra) that the species must attain a complete 
ag Capa on ina — viniividuel in vovelalian? ?—since this is by no means the case 
her (unisexual) animals, where there is no doubt as to what corporeally con- 
iris the ind ,—that is, in the very c ce we derive our idea of 1 
pe ualit oe arison our author is endeavoring to app ly 
case of plants. a a. 
te Verjiingung, p. 41, et. seq. 
E. g. not unfrequently in the raceme of Lathyrus odoratus. 
