In botany, a stipule is an outgrowth borne on either side (sometimes just one side) of the base of a leafstalk (the petiole). A pair of stipules is considered part of the anatomy of the leaf of a typical flowering plant, although in many species the stipules are inconspicuous or entirely absent (and the leaf is then termed exstipulate). In some older botanical writing, the term "stipule" was used more generally to refer to any small leaves or leaf-parts, notably prophylls.[1] The word stipule was coined by Linnaeus[2] from Latin stipula, straw, stalk.