Part 6

oblong, when nearly twice or thrice as long as broad;

linear, when narrow, several times longer than wide, and of about the same width throughout;

acerose, when needle-shaped--like the Pine.

Those broadest at the base--

deltoid, when having the triangular shape of the Greek letter delta;

ovate, when having an outline like the section of a hen's-egg, the broader end downward;

lanceolate, or lance-shaped, when several times longer than broad, and tapering upward, or both upward and downward;

subulate, when shaped like an awl;

cordate, when ovate, with a heart-shaped base;

reniform, when like the last, only rounder and broader than long;

auriculate, when having a pair of small blunt projections, or ears, at the base;

sagittate, or arrow-shaped, when those ears are acute and turned downward, the body of the leaf tapering upward;

hastate, or halberd-shaped, when the ears or lobes point outward.

Those broadest at the apex--

obovate, when inversely ovate;

oblanceolate, when inversely lanceolate;

spatulate, when rounded above, and long and narrow below, like a druggist's spatula;

cuneate, or wedge-shaped, when broad above, tapering by straight lines to an acute base;

obcordate, when inversely cordate.

Sometimes no one of the above terms will describe a leaf, and it becomes necessary to combine two of them; as, linear-spatulate, ovate-lanceolate, etc.

THE APEX

Leaves are classified according to their apices; as--

emarginate, when having a decided terminal notch;

truncate, when abruptly cut off;

obtuse, when ending in a blunt or roundish extremity;

acute, when ending in an acute angle, without special tapering;

acuminate, when tapering into a narrow, more or less prolonged end;

mucronate, when abruptly tipped with a small, short point.