FORMS OF LEAVES 
277 
fine network of small veins. The main veins may have a 
palmate arrangement, as in the palmately-netted vein of the 
maple, or they may branch from a central vein, as in the 
pinnately-netted-veined leaf of the elm. In such a leaf, 
each branch of the mid-vein usually ends in a point of the 
margin, or in a notch. 
240. Forms of Leaves. — A -leaf is said to be simple when 
the blade is all in one part, and compound when it is divided 
Figure 262. — Palmately Compound Leaf of Woodbine. 
into three or more leaflets. The apple and the maple have 
simple leaves, the clover and the horse-chestnut have com¬ 
pound leaves. A compound leaf is pinnately compound 
when its leaflets branch from the midrib, as in the rose or the 
locust; ternately compound when there are three leaflets, 
as in the clover and oxalis, and palmately compound when 
there are five or more leaflets, as in the horse-chestnut and 
woodbine. Besides these general terms, the shape of the 
base of a leaf, the general shape of its blade, its tip, and 
its margin all have descriptive names which help us to 
