5 22 



THE ENGLISH ELM. 



they expand. The delicate narrow green and pink stipules already 

 mentioned serve to protect them, and are arranged in pairs. The 

 colour of the leaf soon deepens from pale to darker green, and in 

 autumn, after a day or so when its hue is golden, it takes a bright 

 yellow tint. The upper surface of the leaf-blade is peculiar from its 

 uneven (granular) texture. The main and secondary ribs only are 

 conspicuous, except when strong sunlight shining through the blade 

 discloses the net-work of smaller veins with which it is actually 

 covered. The ribs on the under side, as also the new shoots, are 

 covered with hairs, traces of which are still to be found on the 

 twigs of the previous year. The leaf, with its fluted surface, is curved 

 over from tip to base, and much puckered between the ribs. 

 Its tip is pointed, its margin acutely serrated. The leaf-blade is 

 carried down the stalk lower on the one side than on the other, 

 and the margins of the two halves are not symmetrical at the base, 

 the one being convex, the other concave. 



