Design and Tradition / A short account of the principles and historic development of architecture and the applied arts

by Amor Fenn

The Husk Leaf

A feature of the foliated scroll is the Husk Leaf, either Acanthus, that is—lobed and serrated, or compounded of water leaves with smooth and undulating edges somewhat similar to the hart’s tongue fern.

The Husk either grows tangentially from the stem which it sometimes envelopes in the sheath form, or has at its base a floral-like feature known as the Bract; this, however, was seldom employed in Greek ornament, a boss-like annulet being more general. The Husk is largely employed to mask or cover branching, and either, as previously stated, grows tangentially from the stem, or takes a bulbous form with a broad and rounded base when it appears to be threaded on, rather than articulated to, the stem.