Leaf spots are round blemishes found on the leaves of many species of plants, mostly caused by parasitic fungi or bacteria.
A typical spot is "zonal", meaning it has a definite edge and often has a darker border. When lots of spots are present, they can grow together and become a blight or a blotch. Fungal spots are usually round or free-form in shape.
In most cases, leaf spots are considered to be only a cosmetic problem, but they can have economic effects on nurseries or in floriculture.
Famous quotes containing the words leaf and/or spot:
“Southern trees bear a strange fruit
Blood on the leaf and blood at the root
Black bodies swingin’ in the southern breeze
Strange fruit hangin’ in the poplar trees.”
—Billie Holiday [Eleanor Fagan] (1915–1959)
“Those who are esteemed umpires of taste, are often persons who have acquired some knowledge of admired pictures or sculptures, and have an inclination for whatever is elegant; but if you inquire whether they are beautiful souls, and whether their own acts are like fair pictures, you learn that they are selfish and sensual. Their cultivation is local, as if you should rub a log of dry wood in one spot to produce fire, all the rest remaining cold.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)