"Because it's a line—more or less," cried James.
"The next wider, has a point and is called 'lance-shaped.' The 'oblong' is like the linear, the same size up and down, but it's much wider than the linear. The 'elliptical' is what the oblong would be if its ends were prettily tapered off. The apple tree has a leaf whose ellipse is so wide that it is called 'oval.' Can you guess what 'ovate' is?"
"'Egg-shaped'?" inquired Tom.
"That's it; larger at one end than the other, while a leaf that is almost round, is called 'rotund.'"
"Named after Della," observed Della's brother in a subdued voice that nevertheless caught his sister's ear and caused an oak twig to fly in his direction.
"There's a lance-shaped leaf that is sharp at the base instead of the point; that's named 'ob-lanceolate'; and there's one called 'spatulate' that looks like the spatula that druggists mix things with."
"That ought to be rounded at the point and narrow at the base," said the doctor's son.
"It is. The lower leaves of the common field daisy are examples. How do you think the botanists have named the shape that is like an egg upside down?"
"'Ob-ovate', if it's like the other ob," guessed Dorothy.