Leaf

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The leaves of a Beech tree

A leaf in summer. This picture also shows the veins of the leaf.

Fallen autumn leaves

In botany, a leaf is an above-ground plant organ. Originally, leaves were used for photosynthesis. A leaf is often flat in order to absorb the most light, and thin so that the sunlight will shine through it. Leaves stometimes store food or water. Some planrts have changes some of their leaves to do other things.

Those plants that have leaves can be sorted into two groups: Those that have leaves all year round, and those that do not. The plants that do not have leaves all year round generally lose their leaves in autumn. Before this happens, the leaves change colour. The leaves will grow back in spring. Leaves come in many shapes and sizes that help what the certain leaf does for the plant it's on.

Basic leaf types

Leaves of the White Spruce (Picea glauca) are needle-shaped and their arrangement is spiral

A fern leaf, called frond

Leaves can have different shapes. The most common ones are:

• Ferns have fronds.
• Conifer leaves are typically needle-, awl-, or scale-shaped
• Angiosperm (flowering plant) leaves: the standard form includes stipules, a petiole, and a lamina.
• Sheath leaves can be found in most grasses.

Leaves can have different functions

Most of the time, leaves are used to do photosynthesis, they make carbon dioxide and sugar from oxygen using water. Sometimes leaves have been changed to provide a different function:

• Thorns help protect the plant from being eaten.
• Vines help the plant to attach to surfaces, and to climb.
• Some leaves are used to store energy. An example for this is the onion.
• Many succulents store water in some of their leaves.
• Some plants (called Epiphytes) grow on other plants. They do not have roots, usually. Often, they changed their leaves to be able to capture rainwater.
• Carnivorous plants use specially-designed leaves to capture their prey.

Leaves can have different shapes. The part of biology that studies the shapes of things is called Morphology

leaves

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