This is the leaf of the common fern or brake. It is beautiful if you examine it, for it is very delicate. And it has one great peculiarity. The flowers of the plant are on the under side of the leaf. They are where you see the little round spots. If you look at the leaf with a microscope you can see the different parts of the flowers.
Thick leaves.
Most leaves are thin, but some are quite thick. This is the case with the leaves of the India-rubber tree. The wax-plant has thick leaves, which, with the flowers, look so waxy as to give the name to the plant. The flowers of the cactuses grow right out from the thick fleshy leaves, making these plants look very awkward, although the flowers are so beautiful. And it is a singular fact, that if one of the leaves is broken off and put into the ground it will take root and grow.
Live-forever.
Did you ever make a blow-bag, as it is called, of the leaf of the live-forever, as children very often do? If you have not, I will tell you how it is done. The leaf is rather thick, and is made of two layers. These you can separate at the stem-end of the leaf, and then by pinching the leaf and blowing into it you can make it puff out like a bag. You must do this very carefully, or you will break the layer on the under side of the leaf, which is very thin, while the upper layer is thick.
Ribbon-grass.
The leaf of the ribbon-grass, as it is called, is very singular in one respect. It is very prettily striped, but you can not find any two leaves that are striped exactly alike, any more than you can find two faces exactly alike among all the people on the earth.
Questions.—What is said of the beauty of common leaves? Tell about the ribs of leaves. What leaves have large ribs? How is it with the leaf of the pear and the orange? What is the difference between the upper and the under side of leaves? Tell about the grape-leaf. And about the leaf of the silver-poplar. What is said of the beauty of leaves as seen through the microscope? Tell about the leaf of the side-saddle flower. And about the Chinese pitcher-plant. Also about the Venus’s fly-trap. What is said of the leaf of the common fern? What of thick leaves? What of the leaf of live-forever? What of ribbon-grass?