The leaf production and senescence, formation and release of spores of Cyathea atrovirens (Langsd. & Fisch.) Domin were analysed based on the monthly monitoring of 50 plants growing in a secondary forest, in the municipality of Novo Hamburgo, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, during the year 2004. The caudex height and number of mature and fertile leaves were recorded annually in 2004-09. In 2...

Objective: Although stevia leaf extract is an accepted sugar substitute that can contribute to improved caloric management and weight control, it also may enhance other aspects of human health. The effectiveness and safety of stevia leaf extract in these additional roles was evaluated. Methods: A detailed literature review was conducted and summarized. Results: An extract of the leaf of the her...

The experimental fatigue life prediction of leaf springs is a time consuming process. The engineers working in the field of leaf springs always face a challenge to formulate alternate methods of fatigue life assessment. The work presented in this paper provides alternate methods for fatigue life assessment of leaf springs. A 65Si7 light commercial vehicle leaf spring is chosen for this study. T...

This study was undertaken to optimize the conditions for the extraction of antibacterial activity of Perilla frutescens var. acuta leaf against Pseudomonas aeruginosa KCTC 2004 using the evolutionary operation-factorial (EVOP) design technique. Increased antibacterial activity was achieved at higher extraction temperatures and with a longer extraction time. Antibacterial activity was not affect...

Geographic patterns in leaf stoichiometry reflect plant adaptations to environments. Leaf stoichiometry variations along environmental gradients have been extensively studied among terrestrial plants, but little has been known about intraspecific leaf stoichiometry, especially for wetland plants. Here we analyzed the dataset of leaf N and P of a cosmopolitan wetland species, Phragmites australi...

Most of the sugarcane (interspecific hybrids of Saccharum sp.) production in Florida is on organic soils. Supplemental phosphorus (P) fertilizer is often applied for optimum yields, but producers are required to reduce P levels in farm drainage waters. The objectives of this study were to relate optimum leaf P tissue concentration with yield in organic soil, and to determine optimum leaf sampli...

Leaf expansion is the central process by which plants colonize space, allowing energy capture and carbon acquisition. Water and carbon emerge as main limiting factors of leaf expansion, but the literature remains controversial about their respective contributions. Here, we tested the hypothesis that the importance of hydraulics and metabolics is organized according to both dark/light fluctuatio...

Leaves are the plant's solar panel and food factory, and leaf traits are always key issues to investigate in plant research. Traditional methods for leaf trait measurement are time-consuming. In this work, an engineering prototype has been established for high-throughput leaf scoring (HLS) of a large number of Oryza sativa accessions. The mean absolute per cent of errors in traditional measurem...

Leaf characteristics of two representative deciduous-tree species in Korean peninsula were compared to assess directional ridge effect on leaf traits of both species. Leaf mass per unit area (LMA) of Rhododendron schilippenbachii in south-facing ridge slope was significantly higher than that in north-facing ridge slope, while Quercus mongolica did not change LMA. Leaf mass of Q. mongolica was i...

Seasonal changes in photosynthetic capacity, leaf nitrogen (N) content and N partitioning were studied from before leaf maturation (spring) until death (autumn) in high- and low-light-exposed leaves of a deciduous shrub, Lindera umbellata var. membranacea (Maxim.) Momiyama growing in a natural forest in northeast Japan. In spring, light-saturated photosynthetic rate (Pmax) was low despite high ...