BABY LEAVES 55 



up of three parts — the blade, or surface, the 

 foot stalk, and a pair of stipules. The latter 

 are absent from many leaves, and disappear 

 early from others. They consist of two odd lit- 

 tle flat bodies, or in some instances blade-like 

 organs, which cling to the lower end of the leaf- 

 stalk or stand on either side of its base. Some 

 stipules look like little leaves, and share the life 

 and cares of ihe leaves above them. More 

 often, however, they bear no resemblance what- 

 ever to their leaves, and live for an important 

 purpose of their own. Perhaps you may have 

 noticed the tough, homy little lobes which 

 jealously stand guard over some of the baby 

 leaves? The stipules of the thorny locust and 

 the barberry change to prickery body-guards, 

 and so repel browsing animals from their foli- 

 age. The little bristle-shaped objects at the 

 base of the apple leaf are stipules. The sti- 

 pules of the smilax and similar vines change to 

 little clinging tendrils which help them to climb. 

 Often the stipules are altered into scales and 

 serve to shelter the leaf buds. The oak, the 

 beech, the elm, and the big, sticky poplar leaf 

 bud are stipules, carefully welded together, and 

 made water tight with a coat of Nature's 

 varnish. 

 Leaves are divided into two general classes — 



