164 CYPRESSES AND JUNIPERS 



whole of their length. They are then described, 

 according to Cocker, as appressed. In others they 

 fall and break away at the summit of their growth 

 into a state of disarray from their hold on the branch- 

 lets. When that happens they are described by the 

 masters of the Arts Botanical as free at the apex. 



The apex — that is, the top of the leaf— varies in 

 shape ; sometimes it is obtuse, at others acute or 

 triangular in its outlines. 



The shape of the leaf if closely looked at indulges 

 in variations. Sometimes it is (i) spatulate. '^ Spatu- 

 late " is derived from the Latin word which stands for 

 a little spade, and it is generally connected in more 

 ordinary minds with the form and feature of a beaver's- 

 tail arrangement. (2) At others it is ovate or egg- 

 shaped ; or (3) awl-shaped, a name derived from a 

 pointed instrument to be found in every tool-chest 

 of a village carpenter, and an implement of familiarity 

 to the world at large. (4) While in others it is 

 described as boat-shaped, in form familiar as an 

 Indian dugout or canoe. 



In some cases of flat-leaved Cypresses the facial 

 leaves on the upper and the corresponding leaves on 

 the lower surface (described as dorso-ventral) are 

 of a different shape from those on the lateral sides. 

 For instance, on the branchlets of the Thujopsis 

 Dolabrata, a branchlet upon which it is very easy to 

 discern the shape, the dorso-ventral leaves are spatu- 

 late while the lateral leaves are boat-shaped. Some- 

 times these herbaceous branchlets have leaves ar- 

 ranged round them in four ranks, sometimes in two 

 ranks, and arranged opposite to each other. The 

 white lines or streaks on the under-side of the leaf, 

 present in some of the species, absent in others, help 

 greatly the process of differentiation. For instance, 

 under the leaf of the Lawson will be noticed these 

 white lines, but under the leaves of the Nootkatensis, 



