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:
“Is not disease the rule of existence? There is not a lily pad floating on the river but has been riddled by insects. Almost every shrub and tree has its gall, oftentimes esteemed its chief ornament and hardly to be distinguished from the fruit. If misery loves company, misery has company enough. Now, at midsummer, find me a perfect leaf or fruit.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“But money, wife, is the true Fuller’s Earth for reputations, there is not a spot or a stain but what it can take out.”
—John Gay (1685–1732)