THEIR FORM, DIVISION, ETC. 167 



nale. A palmately veined leaf is in like manner said to be pal- 

 mately cleft, palmately parted, palmately divided, &c. (Fig. 207, 

 209), according to the degree of division. The term palmate was 

 originally employed to designate a leaf more or less deeply cut 

 into about five spreading lobes, bearing some resemblance to a 

 hand with the fingers spreading ; and it is still used to designate a 

 palmately lobed leaf, without reference to the depth of the sinuses. 

 A palmate leaf with the lateral lobes cleft into two or more 

 segments, is said to be pedate (Fig. 205), from a fancied resem- 

 blance to a bird's foot. By designating the number of the lobes in 

 connection with the terms which indicate their extent and their 

 disposition, botanists are enabled to describe all these modifications 

 with great brevity and precision. Thus, & palmately five-parted 

 leaf is one of the radiated-veined kind, which is divided almost to 

 the base into five segments : a pinnately five-parted leaf is one of 

 the feather-veined kind cut into five lobes (two on each side, and 

 one terminal), with the sinuses extending almost to the midrib: 

 and the same plan is followed in describing cleft, lobed, or divided 

 leaves. 



284. The segments of a lobed or divided leaf may be again di- 

 vided, lobed, or cleft, upon the same principle as the leaf itself, 

 and the same terms are employed in describing them. Some- 

 times both the primary, secondary, and even tertiary divisions are 

 defined by a single word or phrase ; as bipinnatifid (Fig. 214), 

 tripinnatifid, bipiiinately parted, tripinnately parted, twice pal- 

 mately parted, &c. 



285. Parallel-veined or nerved leaves may be expected to pre- 

 sent entire margins, and this in fact almost universally occurs when 

 the nerves are convergent (Fig. 201). Such leaves are often 

 lobed or cleft when the principal nerves diverge greatly, as in the 

 Dragon Arum ; but the lobes themselves are entire. So, also, 

 ribbed leaves are mostly entire, when the ribs converge to the 

 apex : and leaves which exhibit a well-marked marginal vein (the 



falsely ribbed leaves of Lindley), into which the lateral veinlets 

 are confluent (as in all Myrtaceous plants), are also entire. 



286. There are a few terms employed in describing the apex of 

 a leaf, which may be here enumerated. When a leaf terminates 

 in an acute angle, it is said to be acute (Fig. 199, 208) : when the 

 apex is an obtuse angle, or rounded, it is termed obtuse (Fig. 194, 

 198) : an obtuse leaf, with the apex slightly indented or depressed 



