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The arrangement or distribution of nerves, as in the leaves of a plant or the wings of an insect; nervation.

ot.) A tall, liliaceous herb (Phormium tenax), having very long, sword-shaped, distichous leaves which furnish a fine, strong fiber very valuable for cordage and the like. (b) The fiber itself. -- New Zealand tea (Bot.), a myrtaceous shrub (Leptospermum scoparium) of New Zealand and Australia, the leaves of which are…

A white waxy substance having a hot, bitter taste, extracted from tobacco leaves and called also tobacco camphor.

hanter's nightshade. See under Enchanter. -- Stinking nightshade. See Henbane. -- Three-leaved nightshade. See Trillium.

ts which are brought together or closed; to pinch; to close in upon. May this hard earth cleave to the Nadir hell, Down, down, and close again, and nip me flat, If I be such a traitress. Tennyson.

To promote growth; to furnish nutriment. Grains and roots nourish more than their leaves. Bacon.

The tendency of certain plant organs, as leaves, to assume special "sleeping" positions or make curvatures under the influence of darkness. It is well illustrated in the leaflets of clover and other leguminous plants.

Any tree or shrub of the genus Quercus. The oaks have alternate leaves, often variously lobed, and staminate flowers in catkins. The fruit is a smooth nut, called an acorn, which is more or less inclosed in a scaly involucre called the cup or cupule. There are now recognized about three hundred species, of which nearly…

s prescribed; adherence in practice; observance. [Obs.] We are to procure dispensation or leave to omit the observation of it in such circumstances. Jer. Taylor.

h; as, to observe rules or commands; to observe civility. Ye shall observe the feast of unleavened bread. Ex. xii. 17. He wolde no such cursedness observe. Chaucer. Must I budge Must I observe you Shak. With solemn purpose to observe Immutably his sovereign will. Milton.

Overlapping; contorted; convolute; -- applied primarily, in botany, to two opposite leaves, each of which has one edge overlapping the nearest edge of the other, and secondarily to a circle of several leaves or petals which thus overlap.

e posterior segment of the skull and surrounds the great foramen by which the spinal cord leaves the cranium. In the higher vertebrates it is usually composed of four bones, which become consolidated in the adult. -- Occipital point (Anat.), the point of the occiput in the mesial plane farthest from the ophryon.…

A book composed of sheets each of which is folded into eight leaves; hence, indicating more or less definitely a size of book so made; -- usually written 8vo or 8º.

Having eighteen leaves to a sheet; as, an octodecimo form, book, leaf, size, etc.

Having eight petals or flower leaves.

In eight vertical ranks, as leaves on a stem.

A short prostrate shoot, which takes root and produces a tuft of leaves, etc. See Illust. of Houseleek.

Palm leaves, prepared for being written upon with a style pointed with steel. [Written also ola.] Balfour (Cyc. of India).

One of several alkaloids found in the leaves of the oleander.

A tree (Olea Europæa) with small oblong or elliptical leaves, axillary clusters of flowers, and oval, one-seeded drupes. The tree has been cultivated for its fruit for thousands of years, and its branches are the emblems of peace. The wood is yellowish brown and beautifully variegated.