The leaf, a vital organ of a plant.



street young leaf 40X

Leaves are organs that are usually in vascular plants and is attached to a stem.

A better way of saying a leaf is calling it a shoot, which shows stems including their appendages. 

street young leaf 100X


 

Just know that the main thing leaves are used for the plant is for photosynthesis.

Leaves are very thin and the reason for their green color is because of the chloroplasts that are in them.

The primary photosynthetic tissue that is found in the leaf is called palisade mesophyll that is usually on the upper side of the leaf. 







street young leaf 100X

street young leaf 400X

In general there are the two parts in a leaf: the blade and the petiole. In the blade, there is a center vein that runs across the blade which is called midrib. From this midrib, many smaller veins branch throughout the blade and into the rest of the leaf.

In the autumn, a certain pigment called anthocyanin is formed only when the leaf is about to die, which gives off a red-purple pigment. 

 

 

 

 

street young leaf 400X