Parts of a leaf

THE LEAF: FUNCTIONS

What is a leaf?

A leaf is a vegetative part of the plant. It generally has a flat form and a thin surface.

The leaf is one of the most important part of the plants because it is the one which is in charge of accomplishing the photosynthesis, the respiration and transpiration.

The leaf: parts

There are different types of leaves, which let us to distinguish the different kinds of plants, but essentially, each leaf is formed by the following parts:

parts of a leaf

A) The blade

1.- Veins and midrib (midvein)

2.- Margin or edge

B) Petiole

The blade is the expanded part of the leaf. It is the most conspicuous part, what most of people identify and understand as a leaf when such a noun is mentioned.

Different types of blade

limbe

limbe

limbe

Inside the blade the following parts can be distinguished:

– The veins: are a like wrinkles or pipes running along the blade. They are really the vascular bundles coming from the stem throughout the petiole into the the surface of the blade. The central vein is called Midrib. The different patters they draw in different species is a trait used by botanists to distinguish a plant from the other.

nervis

The margin is the rim or final limit of the blade. It can offer different forms:

Different types of margin

contorn

contorn

contorn

– The petiole is the connection of the stem to the blade. It is the channel for the vascular bundles to arrive to it. It can be short or long. Those leaves having a petiole, no matter how long it may be, are called petiolated. There are some leaves without petiole. In this case they are called stalkless or sessile.

A petiolated leaf and a stalkless one

preciol

preciol

Activities of leaves

Do the three following activities before the test:

ACTIVIDADESOnline game of Leaves

test

Test test on leaves for primary school children

Test what you have learned about the leaf, clicking what you think is the correct answer among the three different possibilities.

1) The extended part of the leaf is called:

petiole

edge

blade

2) The central vein of the blade is called:

stem

margin

midrib

3) The channels that distribute the sap or circulatory fluids along the leaf are called:

veins

tunnels

roots

4) Choose the correct statement:

all the leaves are sessile

all the leaves are petiolated

all the leaves have a blade

To know more about “The leaves” Types of leaves

punto rojo More information about plant cultivation.

This article was endorsed by Julián Masats - Technical agricultural engineer specialized in horticulture and gardening.
Editorial
Written by Editorial Botanical-online team in charge of content writing

9 May, 2023

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