48 
HOW PLANTS GROW. 
136. The shape at the base. This is concerned in all the following sorts : — 
Heart-shaped , or Cordate ; when of the shape in which a heart is painted, the 
base having a recess or notch, as in Fig. 98. 
Kidney-shaped , or Reniform ; like heart-shaped, but rounder, and broader than 
long, as in Fig. 99. 
Auricled , or Eared; having a small projection or lobe on each side at the base, 
like a pair of ears, as in Fig. 101. 
Halberd-shaped , or Hastate ; when such lobes point outwards, giving the whole 
blade the shape of the halberd of the olden time, as in Fig. 102. 
Shield-shaped, or Peltate ; when the footstalk is attached to some part of the 
lower face of the blade, which may be likened to a shield borne by the hand with 
the arm extended. Fig. 104 represents the shield-shaped leaf of a Water-Penny- 
wort. Fig. 103 is the leaf of another species, which is not shield-shaped. A 
comparison of the two shows how the shield- 
shaped leaf is made. 
137. As to the Apex or Point, we have the 
following terms, the first six of which apply 
to the base as well as to the apex of a leaf : — 
Pointed, Taper-pointed, or Acuminate ; 
narrowed into a tapering tip, as in Fig. 105. 
1 # Round-kidney- shaped. Shield-shaped, 
Acute ; ending in an acute angle, Fig. 106. 
Obtuse ; ending in an obtuse angle, or with a blunt or rounded apex ; as in Fig. 10V. 
Truncate ; as if cut off square at the apex, as in Fig. 108. 
