32 
THE FIRST BOOK OF BOTANY, 
EXERCISE IY. 
The JBase and Apex of the Leaf- Blade* 
It is a good thing for scholars that leaves quickly 
wither, and must be gathered afresh for each day’s 
study. It will be strange and very stupid if, in get¬ 
ting the same ones you studied the day before, you 
do not each day find others that are new to you. 
You should always try to do this. 
When you were studying the venation of your 
leaf-blades and their margins, perhaps you did not 
notice that they also differed very much in shape. 
We are now to begin the study of the forms of 
leaves, and the first step will be to notice the two 
ends of the leaf-blade. The lower end, next the 
stalk, is called the base of the blade, and the other 
end is called the apex. Fig. 22 represents two leaves 
placed one upon the other, that are alike in shape of 
apices but unlike at the base. The names given to 
the shapes of the bases of leaf-blades are: 
Fig. 22. Fig. 28. 
Hastate (Halberd-shaped). — When there are 
spreading lobes at the base, as in the diagram, Fig. 22. 
