On the Trifoliolate and other Leaves of the Gorse 
(Ulex europaeus, L.). 
BY 
L. A. BOODLE. 
I N seedlings of gorse the axis usually bears a certain number of trifolio- 
late leaves after the cotyledons, and before the simple leaves. Of the 
simple leaves those first formed are nearly always flat, while the later ones 
are normally spiniform . 1 The production of trifoliolate leaves is to be 
regarded as an ancestral character. 
In a natural habitat the number of trifoliolate leaves may vary con- 
siderably, even among seedlings growing close together. Individual 
diversity with respect to this character is thus suggested, but it seemed 
probable that experiments would reveal some degree of plasticity. In order 
to gain some information on the subject, seedlings were grown on sand, 
and others on a mixture of loam, sand, and leaf-mould. When the seedlings 
had advanced far enough , 2 they were examined, and the result compared 
for the two kinds of soil. The result appears to be worth recording, but 
further experiments require to be carried out in a different way, as indicated 
by some unsatisfactory features in the present experiment. 
Remarks on some characters of the seedlings must now be made. 
Bifoliolate leaves occur, but are not so numerous as trifoliolate leaves. One 
or more of them are often produced as a transition from trifoliolate to 
simple leaves, and vice versa. The seedlings show great diversity as regards 
their leaves. A few bear simple leaves only, while others produce trifolio- 
late leaves in various numbers from one up to twenty or more. Then again 
the trifoliolate leaves may be variously distributed. They may begin 
directly after the cotyledons, and form an uninterrupted series succeeded by 
the simple leaves. Or the series of trifoliolate leaves may be preceded, and 
also interrupted once or many times, by simple and bifoliolate leaves. 
Among the flat leaves two-lobed or three-lobed (or more deeply 
divided) leaves are occasionally present. These as well as the bifoliolate 
leaves may be regarded as showing an ‘ attempt ’ to realize the ancestral 
1 Goebel : Organography of Plants (Engl, ed.), vol. i, p. 168. 
2 Most of the plants were left until they had produced several spiniform leaves ; it might then 
be assumed that no further trifoliolate leaves would be formed. 
[Annals of Botany, Vol. XXVIII. No. CXI. July, 1914.] 
