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Spine (Botany a sharp process)

in botany, a sharp process from the woody part of a plant. It differs from a prickle, which proceeds from the bark. A spine sometimes terminates a branch, h, and sometimes is axillary, growing at an angle formed by the branch or leaf with the stem. The wild apple and pear are armed with spines; the rose, bramble, gooseberry, etc., are armed with prickles. The term is applied in zoölogy to a stout, rigid, and pointed process of the integument of an animal, formed externally by the epidermis and internally of a portion of the cutis or corresponding structure.