18 
PLANT STUDIES 
carried so far that most of the part which is covered is 
but a stem (petiole) for the upper part (blade) which is 
exposed. 
In many plants which do not form close rosettes a gen- 
FIG. 11. A group of live-for-evers, illustrating the rosette habit and the light-relation. 
In the rosettes it will be observed how the leaves are fitted together and diminish 
in size inwards, so that excessive shading is avoided. The individual leaves also 
become narrower where they overlap, and are broadest where they are exposed to 
light. In the background is a plant showing leaves in very definite vertical rows. 
eral rosette arrangement of the leaves may be observed by 
looking down upon them from above (see Fig. 9), as in some 
of the early buttercups which are so low that the large 
leaves would seriously shade one another, except that the 
lower leaves have longer petioles than the upper, and so 
reach beyond the shadow. 
