LIME. 



103 



shall, I think, see the reason of their differences of 

 form. 



. Let us begin, for instance, with the common Lime 

 (Fig. 60). The leaf-stalks are arranged at an angle of 

 about 40° with the branch, and the upper surfaces of 

 the leaves are in the same plane with it. The result 

 is, they are admirably adapted to secure the maxi- 

 mum of light and air. Let us take, for instance, the 

 second or third leaf in Fig. 60. They are 4^ inches long 



Fig. 60. — Lime. 



and very nearly as broad. The distance between the 

 two leaves on each side is also just 4^ inches, so that 

 they exactly fill up the interval. In Tilia parvifolia 

 the arrangement is similar, but leaves and inter- 

 nodes are both less, the leaves, say \\ inch, and the 

 internodes 6. 



In the Beech, the general plane of the leaves is 

 again that of the branch (Fig. 61), but the leaves 

 themselves are ovate in form, and smaller, being only 



