68 



MORPHOLOGY OF LEAVES AS FOLIAGE. [LESSON 9. 



the true Honeysuckles (Fig. 132): but here it is a pair* of oppo- 

 site leaves, with their contiguous broad bases grown together, which 

 makes what seems to be one round leaf, with the stem running 

 through its centre. This is seen to be the case, by comparing 

 together the upper and the lowest leaves of the same branch. 

 Leaves of this sort are said to be connate-perfoliate. 



175. Equitant Leaves, While ordinary 

 leaves spread horizontally, and present 

 one face to the sky and the other to the 

 earth, there are some that present their 

 tip to the sky, and their faces right 

 and left to the horizon. Among these 

 are the equitant leaves of the Iris or 

 Flower-de-Luce. On careful inspection 

 we shall find that each leaf was formed 

 folded together length- 

 wise, so that what 

 would be the upper 

 surface is within, and 

 all grown together, ex- 

 cept next the bottom, 

 where each leaf covers 



the next younger one. It was from their strad- 

 dling over each other, like a man on horseback (as 

 is seen in the cross-section, Fig. 134), that Linnaeus, 

 with his lively fancy, called these equitant leaves. 



176. Leaves with no distinction of Petiole and Blade, 



The leaves of Iris just mentioned show one form 

 of this. The flat but narrow- 

 leaves of Jonquils, Daffodils, 

 and the like, are other in- 

 stances. Needle-shaped leaves, 

 like those of the Pine (Fig. 

 140), Larch (Fig. 139), and 

 Spruce, and the awl-shaped 

 as well as the scale-shaped 

 leaves of Junipers, Red Ce- 



FIG. 132. Branch of a Yellow Honeysuckle, with connate-perfoliate leaves. 

 FIG. 133. Rootstock and equitant leaves of Iris. 134. A section across the cluster of 

 leaves at the bottom. 



