OBSERVATIONS ON LEAVES. 



Bass-wood, (Tilia,) Chestnut, and other trees whose leaves 

 are comparatively large, have also in comparison, few in 

 number. 



Among perennial plants, or trees, the Pine genus has the 

 smallest, and the Palm genus the largest leaves. Most of 

 the latter tribe are furnished with leaves of great size, some 

 of them being of such dimensions as to astonish the stranger. 

 Among trees which produce such leaves is the Fan palm, 

 (Corypha umbraculifera,) which grows in the island of Cey- 

 lon, and other eastern countries, where it is called Talipot 

 tree. This tree is said to exceed in size and dimensions a 

 ship's mast, bearing its leaves only at the top. When plaited, 

 or folded together, as they are Fi g . 85. 



when young, the whole leaf is 

 not much larger than a man's 

 arm ; but when spread, they 

 are heart-shaped, as represent- 

 ed by Fig. 85, the largest being 

 twenty feet long, and fifteen 

 broad. These leaves are em- 

 ployed for many purposes by 

 the natives of hot climates. 

 The soldiers and others cut 

 them into triangular pieces, 

 which they lay on their heads 

 to protect them from the sun, or 

 shelter them from the rain. 

 When on a march these leaves 



form the tents under which the soldiers encamp, and the huts 

 under which the travelling natives sleep. They also serve 

 for paper on which the natives write. The tree bears no 

 fruit until the last year of its life, when it puts forth yellow 

 blossoms from its top, most lovely to behold, but which smell 

 so strong and disagreeable, that "when it grows near their 

 houses, the people cut it down before it blossoms. The fruit 

 is a hard seed no larger than a cherry, and not fit to eat, but 

 the trunk contains a pith which the natives beat in a mortar, 

 and of this they make cakes, which taste not much unlike 

 white bread. 



We have remarked that leaves serve very important purpo- 

 ses in the economy of vegetation, and that they perform the 



What tribe of plants have the smallest, and what the largest leaves ? 

 What is said of the size, and uses of the fan palm ? 



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