A leaf is an organ of a vascular plant, as defined in botanical terms, and in particular in plant morphology. Foliage is a mass noun that refers to leaves as a feature of plants.
Typically a leaf is a thin, flattened organ borne above ground and specialized for photosynthesis, but many types of leaves are adapted in ways almost unrecognisable in those terms: some are not flat (for example many succulent leaves and conifers), some are not above ground (such as bulb scales), and some are without major photosynthetic function (consider for example cataphylls, spines, and cotyledons).
Conversely, many structures of non-vascular plants, or even of some lichens, which are not plants at all (in the sense of being members of the kingdom Plantae), do look and function much like leaves. Furthermore, several structures found in vascular plants look like leaves but are not actually leaves; they differ from leaves in their structures and origins. Examples include phyllodes, cladodes, and phylloclades.
Read more about Leaf: General Nature of Leaves, Large-scale Features (leaf Morphology), Seasonal Leaf Loss, Morphology, Adaptations, Interactions With Other Organisms, Bibliography, See Also
Other articles related to "leaf":
... is that the point on the tip, which is typically dark tan, brown, or black, is darker than the leaf ... Indentations of previous leaves show on the back of each leaf ... They then die after blooming, as all leaf and root resources are put into the stalk, flowers, and seeds ...
... They live in leaf pockets of a host plant species, Hirtella physophora, which is also native to the Amazon ... These leaf pockets are areas inside of the plant between the leaves and the stem ... inhabit a tree, with about 1200 individual workers per tree and 40 workers per leaf ...
... Wilbur Monroe Leaf (aka Munro Leaf) (December 4, 1905 – December 21, 1976), was an American author of children's literature who wrote and illustrated nearly 40 books during his 40-year career ...
... gardaa is placed into a cornleaf, and after that a wet cloth is placed over corn leaf and then put the corn leaf in fire until it gets baked and then by twisting the leaf the material is pressed into the shape of a ...
... Another example is when frost forms on a leaf ... When the leaf becomes cold enough, water vapor in the air surrounding the leaf loses enough thermal energy to change into a solid ... When the leaf is introduced, the supercooled water vapor immediately begins to condensate, but by this point is already past the freezing point ...
Famous quotes containing the word leaf:
“frog pond ...
a leaf falls in
without a sound”
—Bernard Lionel Einbond (b. 1937)
“Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)
“Our life is a faint tracing on the surface of mystery, like the idle, curved tunnels of leaf miners on the face of a leaf. We must somehow take a wider view, look at the whole landscape, really see it, and describe what’s going on here. Then we can at least wail the right question into the swaddling band of darkness, or, if it comes to that, choir the proper praise.”
—Annie Dillard (b. 1945)