LEA VES. 



8 9 



celandine if you can find one violet, 

 sycamore, or ivy will do and I will 

 tell you about its different parts. 

 This broader part is called the 

 lamina* or blade, whilst the leaf stalk y 

 is called the petiole^ Take off a leaf 

 carefully from the celandine, so as not 

 to tear it, and you see that the stalk 

 is widened at the lower end (Fig. 58). 



But now pick a tall leafy stem of one 

 Fig. 58.! 

 Lesser Gel 



(Ranunculus ficaria} begins at once from the stem. 



/blade, /stalk, 



sheath. is no petiole, as in the 

 have been looking at. But if you look 

 closely, and pull the blade of grass 

 downwards from the stem, you will 

 find that from the blade down to the 

 node from which the leaf arises there 

 is a portion which surrounds the stem 

 (Fig. 59). Take a tall leafy stem of 

 grass or corn, and pull the top part Fig. 59. Part of 



a stem, with leaf 



away from the bottom part. The top of a Grass ; a the 



... -- _ , stem, /the blade, 



part will come off at one of the nodes, v the sheath, /the 



and you will pull it out from the leaf 



sheath of that node as you would draw a sword out of 



There 

 leaves we 



* From the Latin "/amuia," a plate or thin piece (of metal), a sword 

 blade. 



t From the Latin " petiolus " (from pes, a foot), a little foot or stalk. 



J A ligule (from the Latin ligula) is a small tongue-like growth from 

 the leaf, as in the picture, and common in grasses and petals of some 

 flowers (Fig. 89). 



