2 06 
Take da. — Some Points in the Morphology of the 
‘ leaves’ at each of the first few nodes, or often for several nodes. Meri- 
carpaea vaillantioides , Boiss., 1 a small annual plant from Assyria, is described 
by some authors as having - four ‘ leaves ’ at each node, 2 and by others six 
‘ leaves’. 3 This discrepancy is due to the fact that the plant actually bears 
four ‘ leaves ’ at each of the lower nodes, and six ‘leaves ’ to the node in the 
upper region of the stem. A highly interesting feature is furnished by 
a specimen of Asperula arvensis , Linn., which usually produces four ‘ leaves ’ 
at the first node, and five or six members at the second. The specimen 
under consideration is one of those distributed under Siehe’s Botanische 
Reise nach Cilicien, No. 144. One of the two stipules at the first node 
20. 
21. 
22. 
Fig. 19. Double stipule of Asperula arvensis, Linn, x 5. Fig. 20. Forked stipule of Asperu la 
sherardioides , Jaub. et Spach. (seen from under surface, showing forked midrib and recurved margin 
of lamina), x 5. Fig. 21. Double stipule of Galium leiophyllum , Boiss. et Hohenack. x 5. 
Fig. 22. Ditto of Asperula aspera, Boiss. x 5. 
in this particular specimen is provided with two midribs and a notched 
lamina (Fig. 19), evidently showing a transition to the five-membered whorl 
at the next node. A specimen of Asperula sherardioides (Boiss.), Jaub. 
et Spach., 4 has also been found to exhibit a similar phenomenon. This 
Persian plant is a small annual and does not attain more than 10 cm. 
in height. The first node usually possesses four, but very rarely six 
‘ leaves ’, while the second node has five or six leaves, or occasionally four. 
1 Diagnoses, vol. i, pt. 3 (1843), p. 52. Cf. Hook. f. in Benth. et Hook., Gen. PL, vol. ii 
(i 873 ), P- 149 - 
2 Cf. Hook. f. in Benth. et Hook., Gen. PL, vol. ii (1873), p. 149. 
3 Cf. Boissier, FI. Orient., vol. iii (1875), p. 83. 
4 lllustr. PL Orient., vol. i (1843) p. 153, tab. 83 ; Boissier, FI. Orient., vol. iii (1875), p. 29. 
The plant was originally described under the name of Crucianella sherardioides , Boiss. : Diagnoses, 
vol. i, pt. 3 (1843), p. 24. 
