FULL-GROWN PLANT AND ITS PARTS 69 
The garden-balsam plant or the geranium tell 
the same story and more. You see the stem is 
branched, and in an old plant all leaves are near 
the ends of the | 
branches, and on 
io p- AS the 
branch grew in 
length the leaves 
reaching out all 
around cut off 
much light from 
the centre of the 
plant, and the 
leaves here, 
which were form- 
ed when the plant 
was younger, be- 
came so shaded 
that they died 
and fell away. 
Can you read this 
story in other 

Fic. 101. ‘Feather down,” elm. 
plants ? 
The leaves of many trees tell a similar story. When 
the trees are in leaf observe how the leaves are arranged 
on the oaks, maples, elms, etc. You will see that the 
position of the leaves varies somewhat in different trees 


