56 Field, Forest, and Wayside Flowers 
them issue in April weather four, or even six, 
broad, fan-like leaves, surrounding a cone-shaped 
cluster of flowers (Fig. 7). 
When the young leaves first begin to expand 
we can see the folding creases in them, and thus 
get an idea how they were packed into the very 
small spaces which they occupied all winter. We 
see that maple and currant leaves have been 
plaited like fans. Those of the cherry and oak 
have been folded lengthwise down the middle, so 
that their sides come together like the covers of a 
closed book. The circular May-apple leaves (Frontis- 
piece) have been folded back against their stalks, 
like closed umbrellas, and will open just as umbrellas 
do. Plum-leaves have been rolled from one edge 
toward the other, as one rolls sheets of music. 
Some of the tender young leaves are clothed or 
surrounded with vegetable down. This is the 
blanketing which Nature provided to prevent them 
from being ‘‘ winter-killed.’’ The horse-chestnut 
leaves have been particularly well protected, and 
from seeing them so snugly wrapped we infer that 
this tree’s ancestors lived in the north, where 
winters were long and severe. Its cousin, the 
buckeye, is a fair southerner, and the young buck- 
eye leaves are unprovided with coverings of vege- 
