Page:An introduction to physiological and systematical botany (1st edition).djvu/251

 Rh the sheath of their leaf, and clasping the culm. See Phalaris canariensis, ''Engl. Bot. t. 1310, and Lagurus ovatus, t.'' 1334. In Aria cærulea, t. 750, a few minute hairs supply its place, while Sesleria cærulea, t. 1613, and some maritime grasses, have scarcely more than the rudiment of a stipula; Old writers call this organ in grasses by a peculiar name ligula, and others denominate it membrana foliorum, but both terms are superfluous. A curious instance of stipulas supplying the place of leaves is observable in Lathyrus Aphaca, t. 1167, which has only one or two pair of real leaves on the seedling plants, and those soon disappear, serving chiefly to prove, if any proof were wanted, that the rest are true stipulas.

Remarkably scariose, Or dry membranous stipulas are seen in Illecebrum Paronychia, Fl. Græc. t 246, and in the genus Pinus.

2. Bractea. The floral leaf, a leafy appendage to the flower or its stalk. It is of a variety of forms, and sometimes green.