Finite-dimensional lattice-subspaces of

Let be linearly independent positive functions in , let be the vector subspace generated by the and let denote the curve of determined by the function , where . We establish that is a vector lattice under the induced ordering from if and only if there exists a convex polygon of with vertices containing the curve and having its vertices in the closure of the range of . We also present an algorithm which determines whether or not is a vector lattice and in case is a vector lattice it constructs a positive basis of . The results are also shown to be valid for general normed vector lattices.