Explain how you would tell if something that looks like a le

Explain how you would tell if something that looks like a leaf (flat and green plant part) is infact, developmentally, a leaf.

Thanks!

Solution

A flat borad green plant part can be called as leaf if
1: it is present laterally to the shoot apex.
2: it is developed as determinate outgrowth of the shoot apex.
3: An axillary bud is located in the axil of the green flat plant part.
4: Successive leaves follow a particular pattern of arrangement i.e. they are developed in phyllotaxy.
5: Two most common visible structural parts of leaves as lamina and petiole. The lamina is the broad flat part of the leaf that has veins.