THE HORNBEAM. 277 



SEEDLING OF HORNBEAM. 



footstalks, while the true leaves possess long ones ; or again the 

 cotyledons may be arranged in a pair, the one opposite the other on 

 either side ot the stem, while their successors show no such arrangement, 

 and spring from different points on the stem. Seed-leaves also differ 

 from the true in colour, in texture and in size. Sometimes the transition 

 from the pattern of the cotyledon to that ot the leaf is a gradual 

 process, and the leaves that immediately follow the cotyledon rarely 

 show the type in its completion. Otten there are many stages to be 

 passed through, and the disguise in each is scarcely less complete than 

 it was in the case of the first seed-leaves. But little by little the type 

 emerges, as each leaf, or pair of leaves, follows in the procession of 

 development, until perfection is attained. Even in individual seedlings 

 from trees of the same species there is variety in the stages ot transition. 

 Some of the more striking differences between seedlings are: 



