LEAF. 



LEOPARD'S BANE. 



have but one blade, they are simple, as in the 

 apple ; but when there is more than one blade, 

 each vseated on a ramification of the petiole, a 

 leaf is called compound. Of these, and of the 

 external form of the leaf, there are endless 

 modifications. Between 200 and 300 are enu- 

 merated by Bischoff. 



The distinction of leaves made by those who 

 have written on botany are the following: a 

 simple leaf is that which is not divided to 'he 

 middle. A compound leaf is divided into seve- 

 ral parts, each resembling a simple leaf, as in 

 liquorice, &c. A digitate leaf is a leaf divided 

 into several parts, all of which meet together at 

 the base, as in hemp, black hellebore, &c. A 

 trifoliate leaf is a compound leaf, consisting of 

 three leaflets, as the trefoil, &c. A quinque- 

 foliate leaf is a leaf consisting of five leaflets, 

 as in Hedera quinquefolia. A pinnated leaf is a 

 compound leaf divided into several parts, each 

 of which is called a leaflet, placed along a 

 middle axis, either alternately or by pairs. 

 When the axis is terminated by an odd leaflet, 

 it is said to be unequally pinnated ; and equally 

 pinnated when it is not terminated by an odd 

 leaflet, as in the cassia; when the leaflets are 

 all nearly of the same form and bigness, it is 

 called an uniform pinnated leaf, as in the 

 liquorice ; when they are not so, it is said to 

 be diffbrm, as in the agrimony. A winged 

 leaf is a pinnated leaf, with an intervening 

 membrane. A ramose leaf is that which is 

 still farther divided than the pinnated leaf, as in 

 the osmund royal, female fern, &c. An entire 

 leaf or lobe is that which has no division on 

 its edges, as in the apple-tree, &c. A sinuated 

 leaf is that which is cut about the edges into 

 several long segments, as in common mallows. 

 A serrated leaf is that which is cut about the 

 edges into several acute segments, resembling 

 the teeth of a saw, as in the nettle, &c. A 

 crenate leaf is that which is cut on the edges 

 into several obtuse segments, as in betony, &c. 

 A laciniated or jagged leaf is that which is cut 

 on the edges into several pretty deep portions 

 in an irregular manner, as in the horned 

 poppy, &c. 



All the experiments which have been made, 

 in order to show how serviceable the leaves 

 of trees and plants are to their well-being, have 

 proved that when the plants have been divested 

 of their leaves, or their leaves have been eaten 

 or cut during their growth, they have been 

 remarkably weakened or destroyed. If the 

 leaves of plants be the means by which their 

 juices are prepared for their support, as has 

 been just stated, it should teach us not to pull 

 or cut off the leaves of trees or plants on any 

 account, while they retain their verdure, and 

 are in health, as they may be greatly injured 

 thereby. Hence, probably, the error of the 

 common practice of feeding down wheat in 

 the winter and spring with sheep, as, by so do- 

 ing, the stalks may in many cases be rendered 

 weak, and the ears shorter, the grains of corn 

 not being so plump and well nourished as 

 when it is not fed down upon the ground. It 

 is well known, too, that in grass which is often 

 mowed, the blades are rendered finer in pro- 

 portion to the frequency of mowing; so that, 

 ;h usn this may be a desirable thing in lawns, 

 704 



&c., where regard is had to the produce, it 

 should certainly be avoided. 



The leaves of trees or plants, where they 

 can be collected in large quantities, as in parks 

 and woods, may be highly useful in augment- 

 ing the manure heaps of the farm. 



Mr. Young, in his Calendar, recommends 

 that, in wooded countries, all the leaves that 

 can be had at little expense, should be raked 

 up in October, and carted to the yards and 

 standing folds, for littering and making them 

 into dung: he did it, he said, at 3d. per ono- 

 horse cart load. They do not rot easily, but 

 that is, he thinks, no objection to them ; they 

 are a sponge to be saturated with urine, and 

 if not touched previously to carting on to the 

 land, will convey to the field much of what 

 might otherwise be lost; and they are extreme- 

 ly useful in aiding the main object of bedding 

 the yards in the autumn and winter season. 

 See BOTAXY. 



LEAF-BUDS. Rudiments of young branches, 

 made up of scales imbricated over each other, 

 the outermost being the hardest and thickest, 

 and surrounding a minute axis, which is in 

 direct communication with the woods and cel- 

 lular tissue of the stem. When stimulated by 

 light and heat they extend into branches; or 

 if artificially removed from the plant that bears 

 them, they are capable of multiplying the in- 

 dividual from which they have been taken. In 

 this case, however, the individual is not a pro- 

 geny as from seed, but merely an extension of 

 the parent. 



LEAFLET. A part of a compound leaf, or 

 a small leaf formed on the petiole of a leaf 

 branching out. 



LEAGUE. A measure of length, princi- 

 pally used in reckoning distances at sea. The 

 sea league is 3 nautical or geographical miles, 

 or the l-20th of a degree, and consequently 

 about 3-45 English miles. The common land- 

 league is a well-known itinerary measure on 

 the continent of Europe, chiefly in France. 

 The French, however, have two distinct 

 leagues ; the legal posting league, containing 

 2000 toises, and equal to 2-42 English miles, 

 and a league of 25 to the degree, or equal to 

 about 2-76 English miles. 



The word is said to have been derived from 

 the Celtic leach, stone ; the distances having 

 been marked by stones in the Roman pro- 

 vinces. See MILK. 



LEOPARD'S BANE (Doftmtcwn). An or- 

 namental genus, and from the plants flowering 

 early in spring, they are well deserving of cul- 

 tivation ; they grow in any garden soil, and 

 may be increased with facility by dividing at 

 the root. 



The great leopard's bane (D. pardalianchis), 

 s a perennial, native of Great Britain, grow- 

 ng in mountainous pastures or meadows. The 

 root is creeping, and consists of several knobs 

 connected by long fibres; woody at the crown. 

 The stem is 2 or 3 feet high, hollow, round, 

 leafy, and hairy; branched, and glutinous at 

 the upper part. The leaves are rather soft and 

 downy, heart-shaped, more or less regularly 

 toothed, or wiry. The flowers, which appear 

 in May, are solitary at the ends of the branches; 

 2 inches wide, of a uniform bright yellow; the 



