142 



CEPHALANDRA. [chap. 



Now we shall have no difficulty in finding cases 

 where, while in mature plants the leaves are more or 

 less lobed and palmate, the first leaves succeeding the 

 cotyledons are entire. This would seem to point to 

 the fact that when in any genus we find heart-shaped 

 and lobed leaves, the former may represent the earlier 

 or ancestral condition. 



In support of this it will be sufficient here to give 

 three instances belonging to three distinct families— 

 namely, Cephalandra palmata (Fig. 92), one of the 



Fig. 92. — Cephalandra palmata. Seedling. 



Cucurbitaceae ; Hibiscus pedunculatus (Fig. 93), belong- 

 ing to the Malvaceae ; and, one of the most striking 

 of all, Passiflora ccerulea (Fig. 94). Other species of 

 Passiflora show the same passage from entire to 

 trifid leaves, while on the contrary in P. van Volscenii 

 even the leaves just following the cotyledons are more 

 or less divided. The advantage of the palmate form 

 may perhaps consist in its bringing the centre of 

 gravity nearer to the point of support. 



Broad leaves, moreover, are of two types : cordate, 



