“What do you mean by ‘choked,’ Frank?”
“Well, it would die for want of air”——
“And light,” his uncle added. “No green plant can live without air and sunlight; and, in order to get these, our weak-stemmed sweet-pea has to climb. It clings to its stronger brethren just as the wild peas do in the hedgerow. Now notice how it climbs. The end part of each leaf consists of little gripping organs called tendrils. These twine tightly round the smallest twigs near them.
1. Ox Eye. 2. Daisy. 3. Corn Marigold.
“Here is a rose leaf. It is composed of several leaflets, and at its base there are two small, brownish-green things called stipules. If we compare this leaf with the leaf of the sweet-pea, we find that in some points they are similar, but in others very different.
Sweet-Pea. Edible Pea.
“The rose leaf is called a compound leaf, because it is made up of many small leaflets. The sweet-pea leaf is also a compound leaf, but it has only two leaflets, and these are of enormous size. The rose leaf has two small stipules. The stipules of the sweet-pea leaf are large and green.
“If I place the rose leaf beside a sweet-pea leaf, you will notice that the latter has no upper leaflets.”