Nature is a great architect, and the vascular network – or veins – of a leaf are key to its structure. Mathematical physicists at Rockefeller University use fluorescent dye and time lapse photography ...

Vein density reflects how much energy and resources the leaf has invested in the network, while distance between veins shows how well the veins are supplying resources to the leaf. The number of loops ...

Some plants, such as succulents, have managed to grow very plump leaves. For that to happen, according to a new study, plants had to evolve three-dimensional arrangements of their leaf veins. That's ...

You might assume that a leaf's vein patterns fork, like tree branches splitting into twigs as they get further from the trunk. But peer carefully and you'll see that the veins make innumerable closed ...

UCLA life scientists have discovered new laws that determine the construction of leaf vein systems as leaves grow and evolve. These easy-to-apply mathematical rules can now be used to better predict ...

Researchers have developed a photothermal actuator that combines rapid movement with remarkable load-carrying capacity. A ...

Leaf size and venation show remarkable diversity across dicotyledons, and are key determinants of plant adaptation in ecosystems past and present. Here we present global scaling relationships of ...

Steve Nix is a member of the Society of American Foresters and a former forest resources analyst for the state of Alabama. Leaf shapes play an important role in tree identification, providing key ...

A "garden variety" leaf is a broad, flat structure, but if the garden happens to be somewhere arid, it probably includes succulent plants with plump leaves full of precious water. Fat leaves did not ...