Some of the names here applied to the whole leaf have already been used to describe a part of a leaf. For instance, among bases we had the heart-shaped base, and now a particular leaf-form is said to be heart-shaped. But it will soon be seen that heartshaped bases may occur in leaves of very various forms, though there is one general form in which the entire leaf resembles a heart, and is therefore said to be cordate. So the base of a leaf may look like an arrow, while the rest of it is very unlike an arrow. The apex may be truncate or obcordate, or any other form rather than the acute ending of an arrowshaped leaf. Follow the order of the schedule carefully in your descriptions till you begin to grow familiar with varying leaf-forms, and soon all appearance of confusion in the use of words will be at an end. Do not expect to find an exact reproduction in Nature of the forms pictured in the book. You are simply to see which of the pictures your leaf is nearest like, and give it the name or the combination of names which the comparison seems to justify. There are, of course, many leaves that you will not at first be able to describe. But if you find a very puzzling leaf, to which the schedule does not seem to apply, you may compare it with the following pictures. Perhaps it will be like one of these, and if so, if you cannot describe it, you can at least learn what to call it. If it is not like any of these pictures, it will be best to postpone its study for the present. By-and-by you will know better how to manage it. A RUN'CINATE leaf is a lobed feather-veined leaf, in which the lobes point backward toward the base. Fig. 78. BIPINNAT IFID leaves are formed when a deeplylobed feather-veined leaf has its lobes again lobed, as in Fig. 79. A PED'ATE leaf is a lobed palmate-veined leaf, in which the lobes at the base are lobed again, and give the leaf a look like the foot of a bird. Fig. 80. CURLED leaves (Fig. 81) are formed by a spreading of the border of the blade. PELTATE leaves are round, and have the petiole attached near the middle of the under surface of the blade. Fig. 82. A KIDNEY-SHAPED leaf is short and broad, with a rounded apex and heart-shaped base. Fig. 83. A LYRATE leaf is a lobed feather-veined leaf, with the terminal lobe much larger than the others. Fig. 84. |