All leaves develop from tiny buds, which consist of only a few cells. The buds always look the same, no matter what kind of leaf they eventually form. Not only that, but very similar leaf shapes can ...

Leaf size and venation show remarkable diversity across dicotyledons, and are key determinants of plant adaptation in ecosystems past and present. Here we present global scaling relationships of ...

Francesco Vuolo and colleagues from the laboratory of Max Planck Director Miltos Tsiantis are investigating the mechanisms underlying the dazzling variation in leaf shapes one can see in nature.

Most leaves are green due to the pigment chlorophyll, but other colours, such as oranges, reds and blues, may also be present due to less efficient photosynthetic pigments like anthocyanins, carotenes ...

Top: Shape of a plantain lily Hosta lancifola leaf showing the saddle-like shape of the mid-surface and the rippled edges. The researchers dissected the leaves of the plantain lily to show that ...

Watery adaptation: The structure and shape of lotus leaves growing on water (left) and above it (right) is influenced by mechanical forces. (Courtesy: F Xu/Fudan University) When the leaves of the ...

Scientists have determined how key developmental genes influence growth of cells to produce such differences in leaf form. The researchers were able to make thale cress, which typically produces ...