nOW TO KNOW THE WILD FLOWERS. 



31 



the leaves spring around the root, as in the cowslip, 

 they are termed radical ; those that grow up the stem 

 are either alternate, opposite, or whorled, as a wheel. 

 They are called simple when there is only one leaf on 

 a stalk, as in the oak, and compound when composed 

 of many leaflets, like the ash. The smaller leaflets 

 attached to the base of the leaves of many plants are 



Quinate and Digitate. 



Palmate. 



called stipules. The presence or absence of these is 

 often an important characteristic of a family. The 

 rose has an oblong stipule, while those in the vetch 

 are often arrow-shaped. Leaves without stalks, as in 

 the ground ivy, are termed sessile ; when they have a 

 kind of foot-stalk (called a petiole'), they are termed 

 petiolate. A ternate leaf has three leaflets on a common 

 stalk, as the famous shamrock and the clovers; a 

 quaternate, four leaflets; a quinafe, five, as in the 



