SCIENTIFIC RECREATIONS. 



Oblong (Primrose). 



composed of several blades or laminae on a stalk, and are seldom sessile. 

 LEAVES. SIMPLE LEAVES are almost innumerable 



I. DEPENDING ON FORM. 



Lanceolate' (Privet). 



in form and variety. Leaves may be equal 

 or unequal^ acicular or linear, rounded or 

 oval, cordate or obcordate, reniform or sagit- 



Ovate (Fuchsia fulgens). tate > P er f oliate or connate, crisp, whorled or 

 truncate, refuse, acuminate or mucronate. 

 The margins of simple leaves again are 

 entire, deft, notched, crenated, crenulated, 



Cordate(WhiteBryony). sinuous, or dentated. They are pinna- 

 tifid, multifid, or lobed, according to the 

 divisions of the leaf. 



Compound leaves are also divided 

 into classes. The pinnate, as the rose- 

 leaf, the clover trefoil. There are " doubly 

 pinnate," the digitate, as in the horse 

 chestnut. Compound and simple leaves 

 can be readily distinguished by inspec- 

 tion, for the former are " articulated " to 

 the stalk and can be separated, but the 

 simple leaves will be torn, for they are 

 confluent throughout. 



Leaves are evergreen or deciduous, 

 accordingly as they retain 'or shed them- 

 selves. The ordinary leaf is deciduous ; 

 the fir and the yew and the imported 

 laurel are evergreens. We have very few 

 of these as natives of England, the ivy, 

 yew, and fir being the three most com- 

 mon. Sometimes a plant peculiar to 

 Killarney, and known as the arbutus, 

 is included in the list. But the Scotch 

 fir and the yew are distinctly native 

 evergreens. 



The detailed characteristics of leaves 

 must be passed over until we come to 

 the fly-catching leaves such as Venus' 

 fly-trap, the droseras, and nepenthes, 

 which appear to catch and devour insects 

 for food. The Venus' fly-trap may be 

 examined, and we shall find* the leaves 

 covered with tiny and very sensitive hairs. 

 Often a fly happens to alight upon the 

 leaf, which is extended in a most inno- 

 As soon as the fly settles the leaves close, 



Palmate (vine). 



II. DEPENDING ON MARGIN AND 

 ARRANGEMENT. 



Serrate (Rose). 



Biserrate (Elm). 



Crenate (Betony). 



Entire (Lilac). 



Digitate (Lupin). 



Pinnate (Vetch). 



Bipinnate (Acacia). 



Pinnatifid (Crepis). 



Ternate (Clover). 



Biternate (Columbine). 



cent manner (see illustration). 



