—Leaf physiognomy (size and shape) in fossils is commonly used to reconstruct terrestrial paleoclimate. Physiognomic leaf-climate methods are underpinned mostly by the covariation between toothed margins and mean annual temperature (MAT) and between leaf size and mean annual precipitation. Digital leaf physiognomy, a multivariate method based largely on variables that are functionally linked to...

Leaf hydraulic conductance (K leaf) is a major determinant of photosynthetic rate in plants. Previous work has assessed the relationships between leaf morpho-anatomical traits and K leaf with woody species, but there has been very little focus on cereal crops. The genus Oryza, which includes rice (Oryza sativa) and wild species (such as O. rufipogon cv. Griff), is ideal material for identifying...

PREMISE OF THE STUDY A recent commentary by Edwards et al. (Am. J. Bot. 103: 975-978) proposed that constraints imposed by the packing of young leaves in buds could explain the positive association between non-entire leaf margins and latitude but did not thoroughly consider alternative explanations. METHODS We review the logic and evidence underlying six major hypotheses for the functional si...

We investigated leaf physiological traits of dominant canopy trees in four lowland Panamanian forests with contrasting mean annual precipitation (1,800, 2,300, 3,100 and 3,500 mm). There was near complete turn-over of dominant canopy tree species among sites, resulting in greater dominance of evergreen species with long-lived leaves as precipitation increased. Mean structural and physiological ...

Plant leaf epidermal cells exhibit a jigsaw puzzle-like pattern that is generated by interdigitation of the cell wall during leaf development. The contribution of two ROP GTPases, ROP2 and ROP6, to the cytoskeletal dynamics that regulate epidermal cell wall interdigitation has already been examined; however, how interactions between these molecules result in pattern formation remains to be eluc...

The feasibility of using the bio-photonic imaging technique to assess symptoms of circular leaf spot (CLS) disease in Diospyros kaki (persimmon) leaf samples was investigated. Leaf samples were selected from persimmon plantations and were categorized into three groups: healthy leaf samples, infected leaf samples, and healthy-looking leaf samples from infected trees. Visually non-identifiable re...

The hydraulic resistance of the leaf (R1) is a major bottleneck in the whole plant water transport pathway and may thus be linked with the enormous variation in leaf structure and function among tropical rain forest trees. A previous study found that R1 varied by an order of magnitude across 10 tree species of Panamanian tropical lowland rain forest. Here, correlations were tested between R1 an...

Our study examines how the mutualism between Atta colombica leaf-cutting ants and their cultivated fungus is influenced by the presence of diverse foliar endophytic fungi (endophytes) at high densities in tropical leaf tissues. We conducted laboratory choice trials in which ant colonies chose between Cordia alliodora seedlings with high (E(high)) or low (E(low)) densities of endophytes. The E(h...

Herbaceous plants rely on a combination of turgor, ground tissues and geometry for mechanical support of leaves and stems. Unlike most angiosperms however, ferns employ a sub-dermal layer of fibers, known as a hypodermal sterome, for support of their leaves. The sterome is nearly ubiquitous in ferns, but nothing is known about its role in leaf biomechanics. The goal of this research was to char...