NATURE STUDY MADE EASY 



25 



Old tree ! the storm still brave ; 



And, woodman, leave the spot, 

 While I've a hand to save, 



Thy ax shall harm it not. 



GEORGE P. MORRIS. 



LESSON IX 



LEAVES, SEEDS, STEMS 



In one of our lessons we learned that some plants grow from 

 one cotyledon and are called monocotyledons, like the wheat; 

 while others, like the bean, grow from 

 two cotyledons and are called dicotyle- 

 dons. To-day we will find another dif- 

 ference. When the bean plant has grown 

 for a month or more, and its leaves are 

 large enough, pull one off, and hold it up 

 to the light and examine how the veins 

 run. You will see a thick vein, or mid- 

 rib, running down the center of the leaf 

 from the base to the apex; and on each 

 side of it you will find smaller tiny veins 

 running out, crossing and recrossing like a fish net. These are 

 called net-veined leaves. All dicotyledons have leaves like these: 

 the apple, the plum, the strawberry, and most of our shade trees, 

 like the maple and the oak, have net-veined leaves. 



NET-VEINED LEAF 



