FORMS OF FIRST LEAVES 



75 



simple, as in the Clovers. When the mature leaves are 

 pinnate, the first ones are generally trifoliate ; and when the 

 final leaves are bipinnate, the first ones are generally pinnate. 

 I have already observed 

 that species with lobed or 

 palmate leaves often com- 

 mence with one or more 

 which are entire and 

 heart-shaped. 



In most cases, there- 

 fore, the first leaves are 

 simpler than those which 

 follow. In species from 

 very dry localities, how- 

 ever, the reverse is often 

 the case. For instance, 

 in Lasiopetalum ferrugi- 

 neum (fig. 119), from 

 Adelaide, the first few leaves are spathulate and more or less 

 lobecl, the final ones linear. Again, in Dodonaea viscosa, also 

 from Adelaide, the first leaves are lobed, the subsequent ones 

 simple. Heterospermum is another interesting case. 



FIG. 119. Seedling of Lasiopetalum 

 ferrugineum. Half nat. size. 



EELATION OF THE SEEDLING TO THE SEED. 



To return for a moment to the case of seedlings. The 

 question of course arises whether the embryo conforms to the 

 seed, or whether the shape of the seed is determined with 

 reference to the form of the cotyledons. The seeds, however, are 

 evidently constructed with reference to the habits, conditions, 

 &c. of the plant. I have elsewhere dealt with the structure of the 

 seed, and must content myself here with the simple statement 

 that we have no reason to suppose that it is influenced by the 

 form of the embryo. On the other hand, it seems equally 

 clear that the form of the embryo, and especially of the coty- 

 ledons, is essentially influenced by that of the seed. 



The Tea (Thea), for instance, presents us with a very in- 

 teresting case, in which the cotyledons vary greatly in shape, 

 following that of the seed, and depending on the number of 



