
70 THE GROWTH AND PARTS OF PLANTS 
of the same kind. The oak, or elm, or apple tree, which 
has a great many branches, will have nearly all its 
leaves on the outside. These allow so little light to 
get to the inside of the tree that few leaves are formed 
there. Have you seen trees of this kind on which there 
were many leaves all through the tree and down its 
large branches? What story 1s told by a tree which 
has a great many leaves in its centre? Did you ever 
see a tall tree standing alone in a field or garden, with 
a great many leaves standing out from its trunk on 
young branches? What story do they tell? 
The story that leaves of forest trees tell. In the deep 
forest all the leaves of the larger trees are at the top. 
When these were very young trees, the leaves were near 
the ground. The young trees had branches also near the 
ground. Now the old forest trees show no branches ~ 
except near the top. They have long, straight, bare 
trunks. The great mass of leaves in the top of the 
forest tell us that they shaded the lower branches so 
much that few or no leaves could grow on them, and 
the branches died and dropped off. A little light comes 
in here and there, so that the young trees in the forest 
have some leaves on them. But do you see so many 
leaves on young maples, pines, oaks, and other trees in 
a thick wood, as you do on trees of the same size 
growing in an open field? The wood also tells us that 
there are some plants which like to grow in its shade ; 


