THE HORSE-CHESTNUT. 357 
The outer lobes are always the largest, and each 
is furnished with a very prominent mid-vein, form- 
ing a thick green ridge on its under side and a 
green groove on its upper side. The mid-vein of 
each lobe is indeed so prominent that it appears 
more conspicuously than the mid-veins of leaves in 
general—to divide the lobe into two halves. From 
the mid-vein the veinlets proceed on each side 
diagonally and in nearly parallel lines—being 
occasionally forked near their ends, to the serrated 
lobe margin. The veins of a large Horse-Chestnut 
leaf presents, especially when looked at on the 
underside, a singularly prominent and systematic 
arrangement; the colour of the leaf when fully 
developed loses its golden hue, and turns to a deep 
dark green, not unfrequently attaming a length— 
stalk and leaf together—of more than two feet. It 
is the size of its individual leaves which give to the 
Horse-Chestnut its singular magsiveness of foliage, 
and their dark colour—acquired when the Tree is in 
full flower—helps to throw out in strong relief the 
beauty of the delicate blossoms. Those who at 
Bushy Park, or elsewhere, have seen, during May, 
Horse-Chestnuts in the full glory of leaf and 
