Iv ON PLANT LIFE 139 
of utility are applicable. Their forms are 
almost infinitely varied. To quote Ruskin’s 
vivid words, they “take all kinds of strange 
shapes, as if to invite us to examine them. 
Star-shaped, heart-shaped, spear-shaped, arrow- 
shaped, fretted, fringed, cleft, furrowed, ser- 
rated, smuated, in whorls, in tufts, in spires, 
in .wreaths, endlessly expressive, deceptive, 
fantastic, never the same from foot-stalk to 
blossom, they seem perpetually to tempt our 
watchfulness and take delight in outstepping 
our wonder.” 
But besides these differences of mere form, 
there are many others: of structure, texture, 
and surface; some are scented or have a 
strong taste, or acrid juice, some are smooth, 
others hairy; and the hairs again are of 
various kinds. 2 
I have elsewhere! endeavoured to explain 
some of the causes which have determined 
these endless varieties. In the Beech, for in- 
stance (Fig. 15), the leaf has an area of about 
3 square inches. The distance between the 
buds is about 14 inch, and the leaves lie in 
1 Flowers, Fruits, and Leaves. 
