BIO PROJECT

-BY ADITYA SAPOVADIA

11:00 p.m. 13.09.13

11:05 p.m. 11.09.13

1)Characteristics of Leaf Leaves are flat and thin, thereby maximising the surface area directly exposed to light and promoting photosynthetic function. Externally they commonly are arranged on the plant in such ways as to expose their surfaces to light as efficiently as possible without shading each other. The internal organisation of most kinds of leaves has evolved to maximise exposure of the photosynthetic organelles, the chloroplasts, to light and to increase the absorption of carbon dioxide. Most leaves have stomata, which open or narrow to regulate the exchange of carbon dioxide, oxygen, and water vapour with the atmosphere. Leaves can also store food and water, and are modified accordingly to meet these functions, for example in the leaves of succulent plants and in bulb scales. The concentration of photosynthetic structures in leaves requires that they be richer in protein, minerals, and sugars, than say, woody stem tissues. Accordingly leaves are prominent in the diet of many animals. This is true for humans, for whom leaf vegetables commonly are food staples. Correspondingly, leaves represent heavy investment on the part of the plants bearing them, and their retention or disposition are the subject of elaborate strategies for dealing with pest pressures, seasonal conditions, and protective measures such as the growth of thorns and the production of phytoliths, lignins, tannins and poisons.

2) Dicot and monocot leaf The dicotyledons, also known as dicots, was a grouping formerly used for the flowering plants whose seed typically has two embryonic leaves or cotyledons. There are around 199,350species within this group.[1] Flowering plants that were not dicotyledons were called monocotyledons, typically having oneembryonic leaf. Dicotyledons are not a monophyletic group, and therefore the names "dicotyledons" and "dicots" are paraphyletic terms. However, the vast majority of "dicots" do form a monophyletic group called the eudicots or tricolpates. These may be distinguished from all other flowering plants by the structure of their pollen. Other dicotyledons and monocotyledons havemonosulcate pollen, or forms derived from it, whereas eudicots have tricolpate pollen, or derived forms, the pollen having three or more pores set in furrows called colpi.

Monocotyledons , also known as monocots, are one of two major groups of flowering plants (or angiosperms) that are traditionally recognized, the other being dicotyledons, or dicots. Monocot seedlings typically have one cotyledon (seed-leaf), in contrast to the two cotyledons typical of dicots. Monocots have been recognized at various taxonomic ranks, and under various names (see below). The APG III system recognises a clade called "monocots" but does not assign it to a taxonomic rank. According to the IUCN there are 59,300 species of monocots.[2] The largest family in this group (and in the flowering plants as a whole) by number of species are the orchids (family Orchidaceae), with more than 20,000 species.[3] In agriculture the majority of the biomass produced comes from monocots.[4] The true grasses, family Poaceae (Gramineae), are the most economically important family in this group. These include all the true grains (rice, wheat, maize, etc.), the pasture grasses, sugar cane, and the bamboos. True grasses have evolved to become highly specialised for wind pollination. Grasses produce much smaller flowers, which are gathered in highly visible plumes (inflorescences). Other economically important monocot families are the palm family (Arecaceae), banana family (Musaceae), ginger family (Zingiberaceae) and the amaryllis family (Amaryllidaceae), which includes such ubiquitously used vegetables as onions and garlic.

3)Parts of dicot leaf

Dicot leaves have an anastamosing network of veins arising from a mid-vein termed net vennation. Examples of dicot leaves include maples, oaks, geraniums, and dandelions.

The basic phyllotactic patterns are opposite, or alternate = spiral. Leaves may also be whorled if several leaves arise, or appear to arise, from the same level (at the same node) on a stem. This arrangement is fairly unusual on plants except for those with particularly short internodes. Examples of a trees with whorled phyllotaxis are Brabejum stellatifolium[2] and the related Macadamiagenus.[3]

Brabejum stellatifolium - new growth, showing whorls separated by long internodes. With an opposite leaf arrangement, two leaves arise from the stem at the same level (at the same node), on opposite sides of the stem. An opposite leaf pair can be thought of as a whorl of two leaves. With an alternate (spiral) pattern, each leaf arises at a different point (node) on the stem. Distichous phyllotaxis, also called "two-ranked leaf arrangement" is a special case of either opposite or alternate leaf arrangement where the leaves on a stem are arranged in two vertical columns on opposite sides of the stem. Examples include various bulbous plants such asBoophone, Aloe seedlings, and also mature Aloe plicatilis.

Distichous leaf arrangement in Clivia

A decussate leaf pattern

Aloe plicatilis showing distichous phyllotaxis

Boophane disticha is named for its phyllotaxis

In an opposite pattern, if successive leaf pairs are perpendicular, this is called decussate.

Decussate phyllotaxis ofCrassula rupestris A whorl can occur as a basal structure where all the leaves are attached at the base of the shoot and the internodes are small or nonexistent. A basal whorl with a large number of leaves spread out in a circle is called a rosette. Repeating Spiral

Two primordia

New primordium forming

Generative spiral

Leaf migration A repeating spiral can be represented by a fraction describing the angle of windings leaf per leaf. Alternate distichous leaves will have an angle of 1/2 of a full rotation. In beech and hazel the angle is 1/3, in oak and apricot it is 2/5, in sunflowers, poplar, and pear, it is 3/8, and in willow andalmond the angle is 5/13.[4] The numerator and denominator normally consist of a Fibonacci number and its second successor. The number of leaves is sometimes called rank, in the case of simple Fibonacci ratios, because the leaves line up in vertical rows. With larger Fibonacci pairs, the pattern becomes complex and nonrepeating. This tends to occur with a basal configuration. Examples can be found incomposite flowers and seed heads. The most famous example is the sunflowerhead. This phyllotactic pattern creates an optical effect of crisscrossing spirals. In the botanical literature, these designs are described by the number of counter-clockwise spirals and the number of clockwise spirals.

Venation[edit source | editbeta]

Branching veins on underside of taro leaf

The venation within the bract of a Lime tree.

The lower epidermis of Tilia europaea There are two subtypes of venation, namely, craspedodromous, where the major veins stretch up to the margin of the leaf, and camptodromous, when major veins extend close to the margin, but bend before they intersect with the margin.

Feather-veined, reticulate (also called pinnate-netted, penniribbed, penninerved, or penniveined) the veins arise pinnately from a single mid-vein and subdivide into veinlets. These, in turn, form a complicated network. This type of venation is typical for (but by no means limited to) dicotyledons. Three main veins branch at the base of the lamina and run essentially parallel subsequently, as in Ceanothus. A similar pattern (with 3-7 veins) is especially conspicuous inMelastomataceae. Palmate-netted, palmate-veined, fan-veined; several main veins diverge from near the leaf base where the petiole attaches, and radiate toward the edge of the leaf, e.g. most Acer(maples).

Palmate-veined leaf

Parallel-veined, parallel-ribbed, parallel-nerved, penniparallel veins run parallel for the length of the leaf, from the base to the apex. Commissural veins (small veins) connect the major parallel veins. Typical for most monocotyledons, such as grasses. Dichotomous There are no dominant bundles, with the veins forking regularly by pairs; found in Ginkgo and somepteridophytes. Difference between simple and compound

Two basic forms of leaves can be described considering the way the blade (lamina) is divided. A simple leaf has an undivided blade. However, the leaf shape may be formed of lobes, but the gaps between lobes do not reach to the main vein. A compound leaf has a fully subdivided blade, each leaflet of the blade separated along a main or secondary vein. Because each leaflet can appear to be a simple leaf, it is important to recognize where the petiole occurs to identify a compound leaf. Compound leaves are a characteristic of some families of higher plants, such as the Fabaceae. The middle vein of a compound leaf or a frond, when it is present, is called a rachis.

Palmately compound leaves have the leaflets radiating from the end of the petiole, like fingers off the palm of a hand, e.g. Cannabis (hemp) and Aesculus (buckeyes). Pinnately compound leaves have the leaflets arranged along the main or mid-vein.

odd pinnate: with a terminal leaflet, e.g. Fraxinus (ash).

even pinnate: lacking a terminal leaflet, e.g. Swietenia (mahogany). Bipinnately compound leaves are twice divided: the leaflets are arranged along a secondary vein that is one of several branching off the rachis. Each leaflet is called a "pinnule". The pinnules on one secondary vein are called "pinna"; e.g. Albizia (silk tree). trifoliate (or trifoliolate): a pinnate leaf with just three leaflets, e.g. Trifolium (clover),Laburnum (laburnum). pinnatifid: pinnately dissected to the central vein, but with the leaflets not entirely separate, e.g. Polypodium, some Sorbus (whitebeams). In pinnately veined leaves the central vein in known as the midrib.

Modifications Leaf Tendrils Tendrils are slender, spirally coiled springlike structures. They are highly sensitive to contact and when they come in contact with any support, tendrils coil around the support like the stem twiners. In glory lily (Gloriosa superba) the leaf apex is modified into a tendril. In pea (Pisum sativum) the terminal leaflets of an unipinnately compound leaf are modified into tendrils. In Lathyrus or wild pea, the entire leaf is modified into a tendril. In Clematis and Smilax, the petiole and stipules respectively, are modified into tendrils. Phyllodes A phyllode is the petiole or rachis of a leaf which is modified into a green flat structure for the purpose of photosynthesis. In such a leaf the lamina is poorly developed. In Acacia melanoxylon, the petiole is flattened, green and becomes a phyllode. The leaflets and secondary rachii drop off. In Parkinsonia aculeata, the secondary rachii are modified into phylodes which are photosynthetic. The primary rachis is modified into a spine. Leaf Spines In some plants, leaves or parts of leaves may be modified into spines. In Opuntia (prickly pear) leaves are poorly developed and fall of very early, but the minute leaves of the axillary bud are modified into spines. In Argemone

(prickly poppy), the leaf margin is modified into small spines. In Zizyphus the stipules are modified into spines. The spines act as defensive structures.

fig. 27.38 - Leaf Spines Scale Leaves In many desert plants, the leaves are highly reduced and appear as scales. The scale leaves are thin, membranous, dry, stalkless and brownish or colourless. In plants where the leaves are reduced to scales in order to minimise transpiration, the function of photosynthesis is relegated to the stems (cladodes).