The shape of leaves

The leaves are primarily nutrition organs: it is through them that plants feed themselves, carrying out the process of photosynthesis. But leaves also represent one of the main interfaces between the plant and the outer world, and many factors concur to make up their shape: for instance, the need to store, or disperse, the right amount of water, to be protected from sun heat or to defend themselves against herbivores. The enormous variety in the shape of leaves is a demonstration of biodiversity that anyone can immediately grasp firsthand.