LEAVES. 



73 



peltate, having its petiole inserted into the centre of the leaf, 

 and thus resembling a shield. 



Reniform (from the Latin ren, the kidney), or as it is some- 

 times called kidney. form; the Ground-ivy (Glechonia), has a 

 leaf of this kind. (See Fig. 30, b ;) it is crenale, or has a mar- 

 gin with scalloped divisions ; ciliate, being fringed with hairs 

 like eyelashes. 



Cordate (from the Latin cor, the heart), or heart-shaped. 

 (See Fig. 30, c ;) this form resembles more the figure of a heart 

 as seen in a pack of cards, than of a real heart ; this figure 

 represents a cordate leaf with an accuminated point, that is acute 

 and turned to one side ; the margin is serrated, or notched like 

 the teeth of a saw^; an example of this kind may be seen in the 

 aster cordifolium. Fig. 31. 



Ovate, obovate, oval; these are terms derived from the Latin 

 ovum, an egg ; suppose the figure at 31, a, to represent an egg ; 

 you observe that one end is broader than the other ; now if to 

 this broad end you add a petiole prolonging it into a mid-rib 

 with some lateral divisions, you have, as at b, the representation 

 of an ovate leaf. If the petiole were placed at the narrowest 

 end, it would be an obovate leaf. An oval leaf (c), is when 

 both the ends are of equal breadth. When the length is much 

 greater than the breadth, the leaf is said to be elliptical, as at d. 

 Fig. 32. 



Lanceolate, 

 this kind of 

 leaf may be 

 seen in the 

 peach tree ; it 

 is represented 

 in Fig. 32, a ; 

 this is an ac- 

 cuminated, or 

 slightly accu- 

 minate, with 

 a serrulated 

 or slightly 

 notched mar- 

 gin, at (,) 



Reniform Cordate Ovate Obovate Oval -EllipticalLanceolate. 



