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close this bookBetter Farming Series 02 - The Plant: the Stem; the Buds; the Leaves (FAO - INADES, 1976, 30 p.)
close this folderThe leaves
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Open this folder and view contentsHow a leaf is made
View the documentThe shape of leaves
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The shape of leaves

The leaves of yam are not like those of cassava.
You can recognize a plant by looking at the leaves.

Leaves are simple or compound.

· Simple leaf


The simple leaf can be entire or lobed.

Entire simple leaf
Examples: yam , millet, okra., hibiscus, maize, cocoa, teak, coffee

Lobed simple leaf
Examples: cassava, cotton

· Compound leaf

Look carefully at the drawing of a groundnut leaf. What it shows is not four groundnut leaves. It is a single leaf.
But this leaf is made up of a midrib bearing four little leaves.
These little leaves are called leaflets.
The midrib of a compound leaf is not a stem.
So there is never a bud between the midrib and the leaflets.


A groundnut leaf