14 THE niTSIOGNOMY AND PHYSIOLOGT 



leaf stalk, on each side of which numerous long, 

 naiTow leaflets are disposed much in the same 

 manner as the lamince, or vanes, of a feather, 

 or like the teeth of a double-rowed comb ; or 

 else fan-like, [i^almo-digitate^) that is, having 

 the leaflets all united at the base in one point, 

 and spreading thence in every direction of a 

 horizontal surface, like the ribs of a fan, or the 

 extended fingers of the hand. There are some 

 few exceptions to this rule, the most remarkable 

 of which is Caryota urens, whose leaves are 

 shaped like a wedge, or the letter v. The 

 green of the leaves is either dark and shining, 

 or of a silvery white on the underside, as in the 

 slender ia,n-^2i\m,{Coryi:)hamiraguaina.') Some- 

 times the middle cf the fan-like leaf is adorned 

 with concentric yellow and blue stripes, in the 

 manner of a peacock's tail, as in Mcmritia 

 acitleata, which Bonpland discovered in South 

 America. It is to the close comb-like manner 

 in which the stiff sword-shaped leaflets of some 

 of the palms are arranged, that they owe the 

 beautifid reflections of solar light that play over 

 the surface of the leaves, which shine Avitli a 

 brilliant verdure in some, (as Cocos,) and with a 

 fainter and ashy-coloured hue in the date palm. 

 Sometimes the foliage assumes a reed-like ap- 

 pearance, having a thinner and more flexible 



