TO 
PLANT STUDIES 
. 
FIG. 61. Cotton woods, in winter condition, on a sand dune, showing the branching 
habit, and the tendency to grow in groups. 
grows towards the light, while floating stems may be 
either erect or transverse. 
B. Stems bearing scale leaves 
49. General character. A scale leaf is one which does 
not serve as foliage, as it does not develop the necessary 
chlorophyll. This means that it does not need such an 
exposure of surface, and hence scale leaves are usually much 
smaller, and certainly are more inconspicuous than foliage 
leaves. A good illustration of scale leaves is furnished by 
the ordinary scaly buds of trees, in which the covering of 
overlapping scaly leaves i3 very conspicuous (see Fig. 65). 
As there is no development of chlorophyll in such leaves, 
