Question

Briefly describe the anatomy of leaf

Answer 1

Leaf represents an important part of the plant body. It is involved in vital physiological activities such as transpiration, respiration and photosynthesis. Unlike the stem and the root, the leaf is flat and hence, the anatomy of the leaf differs very much from that of stem or root.

There are two types of leaves in angiosperms based on the manner of orientation, they are:

Dorsi-ventral leaves which usually orient at an angle to the main axis and held perpendicular (normal) to the direction of sunlight.

Example: Leaves of dicots

Iso-bilateral leaves which usually orient parallely to the main axis and held parallel to the direction of the sunlight .

Example: Leaves of monocots.

A characateristic feature of leaves is the presence of two epidermal layers, one on each surface. The ground tissue that occurs between the two epidermal layers, is known as mesophyll. Embedded in the mesophyll are the vascular bundles, commonly known as veins.