186 BOTANICAL GAZETTE [MARCH 
The leaf 
The relation between roots and leaves is very variable. Two 
or more roots usually appear on the buds before the formation of 
the first leaf. In the mature stele, roots often connect with the 
cylinder immediately below a leaf gap; but it is equally common 
to find two roots attached at the sides of the base of a leaf. No 
definite relationship between the two can be shown. 
As already stated, the leaves in exceptional cases reach a length 
of 2.7 meters. The stout circular or oval petiole may measure 
I cm. or more in diameter and merges insensibly into the blade; 
the latter in unbranched leaves is 2~3 cm. in width, but in branched 
or lobed leaves may reach 5 or 6 cm. 
at the point of division. Branching 
and lobing of the leaf occurs very 
commonly in the Samoan material; in 
all cases the separation occurs beyond 
the point of attachment of the fertile 
spike. There is no absciss layer, a5 
described for Botrychium virginianum 
by JEFFREY (4). ; 
In the bud, the tip of the leaf 1s 
curved over; the fertile spike when 
Fic. 14.—Rhizome with fitst recognizable is attached just 
young leaf: s, fertile spike; X1. beyond the curve, with its tip directed 
toward the stem. The original de- 
velopment of the leaf is by an apical cell, but its later enlargement 
is by intercalary growth. As indicated by fig. 14, this begins at 
the base and proceeds toward the tip. The portion between the 
spike and the stem may be 4-5 cm. in length when the portion 
beyond the spike is only 2-3 mm. long. In the mature leaf, the 
spike is attached at a point about one-third of the way from the 
base to the tip of the leaf. 
The number of strands separating from the cylinder to cop” 
stitute the leaf trace varies from 3 to 12; 5 is the commonest 
number. There is a general relation between the size of the leaf, 
the size of the gap, and the number of strands. The strands 
usually attach to the cylinder in a circle, the uppermost one after 
