356 A talk: about SOME TREE LEAVES. [Oct. 



is shown in Fig. 3. Atop it is of an ovate lance-shaped form, and 

 slightly heart-shaped at the base. 



rig. 4 is that of the aspen poplar leaf, Fopulus tremula. The 

 teeth along the area of its surface are blunted like flattened cones, 

 and are much fewer than in the contiguous figures. The body of 

 the leaf is of a thinner texture, without any white cotton on it, 

 though sometimes very pale underneatli. As stated in our former 

 talk, the leaf stalk is particularly slender, so that the blade trembles 

 with the slightest motion of the air. 



PLATE Vir. 



The leaf of the common maple, Acer camjjestre, Fig. 1, has also a 

 long leaf stalk ; it varies in breadth from one to three inches. The 

 Norman-Gothic architectural resemblance of this leaf, given it by 

 the obtuse lobes, mark out the characteristic difference of the figure. 

 The leaf is smooth on its upper surface, but is often downy on the 

 lower one. 



In Fig. 2 will be noted the extra series of teeth peculiar to the 

 leaf of the common hornbeam. There is usually down on the 

 under leaf. The parallel courses of the veins from the central axis 

 is well marked. 



Fig. 3 depicts a leaf of Ahuis incana, a North American species 

 of the alder. Mark the keenly saw-shaped teeth, contrasting them 

 with those of Fig. 2, Plate 6 ; as well as the lance-shaped top of 

 this leaf, in opposition to the bay-like depression at the top of the 

 leaf of the common alder, as depicted in Plate 6. 



The Edinburgh Autumn Show. — A correspondent of the Field 

 calls special attention to the stand of curious and rare plants 

 sent from the Eoyal Botanic Garden to the Edinburgh Autumn 

 Show. A new species of groundsel {Scnecio speciosus) was shown, 

 which is perfectly hardy, and has flowered out of doors from seed 

 sown this spring. The florets are bright, shining mauve, and the 

 dark disk is covered with mealy pollen ; a white woolly thickish 

 stem branches and supports heads of three or four blooms. The 

 leaves, with somewhat of the habit and appearance of Primula 

 japonica, are of a clear, bright green, and deeply toothed. The 

 pitchers of the nepenthes were artificially filled with water, a great 

 aid to stove plants in the dry atmosphere of the Vegetable Market. 

 The edges of the stand of Messrs. Dickson & Co. were well set off 

 by edges of white and red Cornish heath tied down to the 

 woodwork. 



