Stipule
or STIPULA (plural, STIPULE), in botany , one of two small appendages, generally tapering at the end, situated at the base of a petiole on each side, and generally of a less firm texture than the petiole itself. They the pet petiole itself. They either adhere to the base of the petiole or are separate; they may last as long as the leaf, or fall off before it. In texture they may be membraneous , leathery, or spiny; in margin entire or laciniated. Stipules are absent in exogens with opposite leaves, in some with alternate leaves, and in the great majority of endogens. They are probably transformed leaves. Also appendages at the base of leaves in Jungermanniacex and Jungermanniaceæ and Hepaticæ.