stipule

In botany, a stipule is an outgrowth typically borne on both sides (sometimes on just one side) of the base of a leafstalk (the petiole). They are primarily found among dicots and rare among monocots. Stipules are considered part of the anatomy of the leaf of a typical flowering plant, although in many species they may be inconspicuous —or sometimes entirely absent, and the leaf is then termed exstipulate. At the other end of the scale are species like Artocarpus elasticus where the stipules can be up to eight inches (twenty cm) in length. (In some older botanical writing, the term "stipule" was used more generally to refer to any small leaves or leaf-parts, notably prophylls.) The word stipule was coined by Linnaeus from Latin stipula, straw, stalk.

==Types of stipules== {| | thumb|left|197px| Glandular stipule of Euphorbia pteroneura | thumb|left|197px| Stipular spines on the mesquite tree ([[Prosopis pallida)]] | thumb|left|197px| Fused together and leaf-like stipules of Alchemilla mollis | |} {| | thumb|left|197px| Leafy stipules at the base of a Rose leaf ([[Rosa canina)]] | thumb|left|197px| Stipules building glandular hairs on Jatropha spicata | thumb|left|197px| Stipules protecting young leaves of Carpinus betulus (European Hornbeam) | |} {| | thumb|left|210px| Stipular spine clusters of Euphorbia spectabilis | thumb|left|210px| Stipular spines accompanied by prickles of Euphorbia didiereoides | thumb|left|210px| The stipule of Ficus religiosa. The white stipule contains a new leaf and a new stipule. | |}