Stipules in the Stellatae , with special reference to Galium. 205 
According to Lubbock 1 the seedlings of Galium saccharatum and G. tenuis - 
simutn, both of which usually bear more than six £ leaves ’ at each node, 
produce only four ‘ leaves ’ (i. e. two true leaves and two stipules) at the 
first node, five ‘ leaves ’ at the second, and often six ‘ leaves 5 (i. e. the 
two true leaves and four stipules) at the third node. The same author 
states 2 that the seedling of Sherardia arvensis possesses only a single 
stipule on each side of the stem at the first three nodes, and that four 
stipules (two on each side) occur at the succeeding nodes. Velenovsky 3 
states that in the seedling of Asperula odorata the cotyledons are suc- 
ceeded by a four-membered whorl, in which two stipules (smaller) are 
distinctly enveloped by two opposite leaves. In the next whorl there 
are six ‘ leaves ’, and the two opposite leaves again surround the four 
stipules, which are produced by a fission of those organs which corre- 
spond to the original two opposite stipules at the first node. He further 
states 4 that similar features may be seen also in Galium sylvaticum , the 
seedlings of which however produce four-membered whorls throughout 
the first year’s growth. 
The writer’s own observations on seedlings have revealed more 
instances of the same phenomenon in other members of the Stellatae. 
Galium murale , All., 5 always produces four £ leaves ’ at each of the lower 
nodes, and five or six ‘ leaves ’ at the upper nodes. Both G. setaceum , 
Lam., 6 and Crucianella disticha , Boiss., 7 bear four leaves at the first, and 
often up to the third node, and six ‘ leaves ’ at each of the higher nodes. 
G. Vai/lantii, DC., 8 which possesses eight £ leaves ’ at each node in the upper 
region of the stem, produces four 6 leaves ’ at the first, and sometimes also 
at the second node, but five or more £ leaves ’ at each of the nodes at 
a slightly higher level. G. Aparine , Linn., usually produces four £ leaves ’ at 
the first, and sometimes the second node, and less commonly five or six 
‘leaves’ at the first node. In Crucianella angustifolia , Linn., and C. patida, 
Linn., the first and often the second and third nodes have a whorl of four 
members, while each of the higher nodes is furnished with a six-membered 
whorl. C. latifolia , Linn., which is another ‘six-leaved ’ species, bears four 
accepted as ancestral (cf. Lang, Address to the Botanical Section, Brit. Ass., at Manchester, 1915, 
p. 6). Any given case, relating for instance to the leaves of a seedling, must be studied in the light 
of as much collateral evidence as is available, and a slight presumption in favour of ancestral 
character may be granted on the strength of a number of examples, such as the seedlings of the gorse, 
certain phyllode-bearing acacias, many Conifers (cf. Veitch’s Manual of the Coniferae, ed. 2, p. 22 
et seq., 1900), &c. 
1 Seedlings, vol. ii (1892), p. 77. 2 Lubbock, 1. c., p. 79. 
3 1. c., pp. 434-5- 4 Velenovsky, 1. c., p. 435. 
5 FI. Pedemont, i, p. 8, Tab. 77, Fig. 1 (1785) ; a Mediterranean species. 
6 Encyclopedic, vol. ii (1806), p. 584 ; a Mediterranean and temperate Asiatic species. 
7 Diagnoses, vol. i, pt. 3 (1843), p. 25. 
8 Flore de France, no. 3381 (1805); Prodromus, vol. iv (1830), p. 608. The plant is some- 
times treated as a variety of G. Aparine , Linn., var. Vaillantii, Koch, or a subspecies of G. Aparine , 
Linn.: see Flooker’s Stud. FI., ed. 3 (1884), p. 194. 
