THE LEAF 



43 



pentaphylla), yellow-flowered hurh-hurhe {Cleome 

 viscosa), tikta-shag {Cratceva), &c. The leaflets of 

 compound leaves are described in the same terms 

 as are used in describing simple leaves. Ternate 

 leaves are either pinnately ternate or palmately 

 ternate, according as the leaflets are petiolate or 

 sessile or subsessile. 

 The petiole is 

 usually cylindric or 

 semi - cylindric in 

 form, with often a 

 more or less grooved 

 upper surface. In 

 Orange and other 

 plants of this family 

 the petiole is winged 

 and articulated to 

 the blade. In some 

 plants the two mar- 

 gins of the blade run 

 down the two sides 

 of the petiole as two 

 narrow strips. The 

 leaf in such cases is 

 said to be decur- 

 RENT. The petiole 

 is usually attached 



to the base of the blade ; in some leaves, however, as 

 in padma or Lotus, nil-padma (^Nymphcea stellatd), 

 kachu {Colocasia), Garden Nasturtium (Tropceolum 

 majus), &c., the petiole is attached to the back of 

 the leaf; such a leaf is said to be peltate (fig. 43). 



Often the petiole is accompanied by appendages 

 known as stipules. They are usually green, folia- 

 ceous, filiform, or scaly structures seen by the side of 



Figf. 42. — Palmate Leaf of Shimool or Silk 

 Cotton {Bomhax malabaricutn) 



