Green Leaves at Work 115 
And a whole category of plants bear leaves 
which are traps for the luring and snaring of in- 
sects. 7 
So the functions of leaves vary widely, and their 
forms vary still more. ‘‘The leaves of the herb- 
age at our feet,” says Ruskin, ‘‘take all kinds 
of strange shapes, as if to invite us to examine 
them. Star-shaped, heart-shaped, spear-shaped, ar- 
row-shaped, fretted, fringed, cleft, furrowed, ser- 
rated, in whorles, in tufts, in wreaths, in spires, 
endlessly expressive, deceptive, fantastic, never the 
same, from footstalks to blossom, they seem per- 
petually to tempt our watchfulness, and take de- 
light in outstripping our wonder.”’ 
