74 



FIRST STUDIES IN PLANT LIFE 



11. Already I hear you asking : Are the leaves on 

 the palm-like plan cut into in the same way as those 

 that are on the feather-plan ? Yes, they are cut in many 

 ways. If yon look for a mallow weed (fig. 43), you will 



see how the cutting 

 begins. The cuts are 

 deejjer in the leaf of 

 the plane tree (fig. 44) 

 and still deeper in the 

 leaf of the fig tree (fig. 

 45), and in the Vir- 

 ginia creeper (fig. 46) 

 the different parts run 

 out into distinct leaf- 

 lets. But in all these 

 leaves — the mallow, 

 the plane, the fig, and 

 the Virginia creeper, 

 the ribs run out from one centre, and you cannot say 

 that one rib is stronger than the rest. All, therefore, 

 belong to the leaves built on the palm-like plan.* 



FiCf 

 Leaf of mallow-weed. 



FlfrltN- 

 Palm-like leaf of a plane tree. 



Palm-like leaf of a fig 



tree. 



* In some leaves the feather— and palm— plans are combined. 



