THE LEAVES 



73 



the cuts in the leaf are so deep that they reach the 

 mid-rib, and then we have leaves like the pepper tree 

 leaf (fig. 41). This looks very different from the 

 leaf we started with ; but the plan of the veins is still 

 the same — a number of side-ribs running from a 

 strong mid-rib. The pepper tree leaf, therefore, like 

 the oak leaf, is feather-like. We have now, you see,. 



Leaf of a pepper tree. Leaf of geranium. 



got a name that will cover a great number of leaves 

 which, at first sight, look quite different. We shall 

 call all these the feather-like leaves. 



10. But now you bring to me a geranium leaf and 

 say that you cannot " find the feather " in it. All the 

 ribs run from the same point in the leaf-stalk, just as 

 all the fingers of the hand rise from the palm. Also, 

 the mid-rib is not stronger than the other ribs. Well, 

 we shall call this kind of skeleton the palm-like plan. 



