68 :fi8otan^ 



into a water-tight i)itcher, which it keeps full of 

 liquid. 



The general color of leaves is green, but some, as 

 those of the coleas, are of various brilliant colors — 

 scarlet, yellow, red, pur23le ; other leaves, as some 

 varieties of bergamot, begonia, striped grass, have 

 green leaves, mottled Avith white, yellow, or brown ; 

 other plants have green leaves and parti-colored 

 edges. 



Some leaves emulate the blossoms in fragrance; 

 the orange, lemon, mint, sage, thyme, geranium 

 families have in their leaves a rich odor. All this 

 variety in form, color, fragrance, adds greatly to the 

 beauty of foliage. Ruskin says : " The leaves of the 

 herbage at our feet take all kinds of strange shapes, 

 as if to invite us to examine them. Star-shaped, 

 heart-shaped; fringed, fretted, cleft, furrowed; in 

 tufts, spires, wreaths ; never the same from foot- 

 stalk to blossom, the}^ seem perpetually to tempt our 

 watchfulness and to take delight in outstri2D23ing our 

 wonder." 



Leaves were not created chiefly for beauty, but for 

 use. What is the use of the leaf? "To give shade," 

 you say. That is one, perhaps the least important 

 of the functions of the leaf. Animals and j^lants alike 

 are indebted to the shade of foliage for much comfort, 

 and for some further possibilities of life and growth. 



