Reniform, or Kidney-shaped (Fig. [131]), like the last, only rounder and broader than long.
Auriculate, or Eared, having a pair of small and blunt projections, or ears, at the base, as in one species of Magnolia (Fig. [126]).
Sagittate, or arrow-shaped, where such ears are acute and turned downwards, while the main body of the blade tapers upwards to a point, as in the common Sagittaria or Arrow-head, and in the Arrow-leaved Polygonum (Fig. [125]).
Hastate, or Halberd-shaped, when such lobes at the base point outwards, giving the shape of the halberd of the olden time, as in another Polygonum (Fig. [127]).
Fig. 128-132. Various forms of radiate-veined leaves.
Peltate, or Shield-shaped (Fig. [132]), is the name applied to a curious modification of the leaf, commonly of a rounded form, where the footstalk is attached to the lower surface, instead of the base, and therefore is naturally likened to a shield borne by the outstretched arm. The common Watershield, the Nelumbium, and the White Water-lily, and also the Mandrake, exhibit this sort of leaf. On comparing the shield-shaped leaf of the common Marsh Pennywort (Fig. [132]) with that of another common species (Fig. [130]), it is at once seen that a shield-shaped leaf is like a kidney-shaped (Fig. [130, 131]) or other rounded leaf, with the margins at the base brought together and united.
[137.] As to the Apex, the following terms express the principal variations:—
Acuminate, Pointed, or Taper-pointed, when the summit is more or less prolonged into a narrowed or tapering point; as in Fig. [133].