Leaf Shapes | ClipArt ETC

The Leaf Shapes ClipArt gallery offers 310 examples of the various shapes, margins, and arrangements of leaves. For leaves of specific shrubs or trees, please see our Flowers and Shrubs selections, or our Trees gallery.

Overlapping as the segments of some perianths in the bud. At least one segment must be wholly outside and one wholly inside.

Imbricate

Overlapping as the segments of some perianths in the bud. At least one segment must be wholly outside…

Impari-pinnate leaves are pinnate leaves having a terminal or odd leaflet.

Impari-Pinnate Leaf

Impari-pinnate leaves are pinnate leaves having a terminal or odd leaflet.

Cut sharply, irregularly, and more or less deeply.

Incised

Cut sharply, irregularly, and more or less deeply.

Inflexed Leaf

This shows an inflexed leaf.

"Infundibuliformis.--Funnel form." -Newman, 1850

Infundibuliformis

"Infundibuliformis.--Funnel form." -Newman, 1850

Rolled inwardly toward the midrib.

Involute

Rolled inwardly toward the midrib.

Involute Leaf Shape

This shows an involute leaf.

Juniper plant.

Juniper

Juniper plant.

Possessing a central ridge as a boat.

Keeled

Possessing a central ridge as a boat.

From left to right: Serrate, Dentate, Crenate, Wavy, Sinuate, Incised.

Kinds of Margin of Leaves

From left to right: Serrate, Dentate, Crenate, Wavy, Sinuate, Incised.

Irregularly cut as if torn.

Lacerate

Irregularly cut as if torn.

Lanceolate

Shaped like a spear head, broadest near base, tapering to apex, and several times as long as broad.

Lattice Leaf is the popular name of a water plant, 'Aponogeton jenestralis', belonging to the order 'Aponogetonaceæ'. The older leaves are of open structure, are nearly a foot long, oblong in shape, and float just below the surface of the water. The flowers are born in spikes in the surface. The roots of the plant are used as an article of food by the natives of Madagascar, where it is indigenous.
(1. Part of Flower Spike)

Lattice Leaf

Lattice Leaf is the popular name of a water plant, 'Aponogeton jenestralis', belonging to the order…

Here is leaf that is shaped like the head of an arrow.

Leaf

Here is leaf that is shaped like the head of an arrow.

Leaf

Here is leaf that is shaped like a lance.

Here is leaf that is shaped like a trowel.

Leaf

Here is leaf that is shaped like a trowel.

Here is leaf that is shaped like a fiddle.

Leaf

Here is leaf that is shaped like a fiddle.

Here is a leaf that is shaped like a shield.

Leaf

Here is a leaf that is shaped like a shield.

Here is a leaf that has a tendril on the end of it which clasps around whatever it touches.

Leaf

Here is a leaf that has a tendril on the end of it which clasps around whatever it touches.

This leaf is notched all around its edge.

Leaf

This leaf is notched all around its edge.

This leaf is notched all around its edge.

Leaf

This leaf is notched all around its edge.

This leaf is spread out like a hand.

Leaf

This leaf is spread out like a hand.

This leaf is spread out like a hand.

Leaf

This leaf is spread out like a hand.

Leaves are arranged in a great many different ways on their stems. Here are three leaves together on a stem.

Leaf

Leaves are arranged in a great many different ways on their stems. Here are three leaves together on…

Leaves are arranged in a great many different ways on their stems. Here the leaf-stem has three little branches, and each branch has three leaves.

Leaf

Leaves are arranged in a great many different ways on their stems. Here the leaf-stem has three little…

Leaves are arranged in a great many different ways on their stems. On this leaf-stem are a great many leaves.

Leaf

Leaves are arranged in a great many different ways on their stems. On this leaf-stem are a great many…

Lanceolate Leaf Shape

This shows an lanceolate leaf.

This shows an obovate leaf.

Leaf

This shows an obovate leaf.

One of the three principal parts or organs of vegetation, generally flattened in shape, and greenish in color.

Leaf

One of the three principal parts or organs of vegetation, generally flattened in shape, and greenish…

Top of a leaf, cut across; it consists of a single layer of cells.

Leaf

Top of a leaf, cut across; it consists of a single layer of cells.

Leaf arrangements: left, alternate arrangement; right, opposite arrangement.

Leaf Arrangements

Leaf arrangements: left, alternate arrangement; right, opposite arrangement.

"A, Shapes of bases of leaves; B, Peltate leaf of Tropaeolum. 1, heart-shaped; 2, arrow-shaped; 3, halberd-shaped." -Bergen, 1896

Leaf Bases

"A, Shapes of bases of leaves; B, Peltate leaf of Tropaeolum. 1, heart-shaped; 2, arrow-shaped; 3, halberd-shaped."…

"Many plans may be propagated by planting their leaves or portions of their leaves as cuttings, as, for example, the herbaceous Gloxinia (a) and Gesnera, the succulent Sempervivum, Echeveria, Pachyphytum, and their allies and such hard-leaved plants as Theophrasta (b). The leaves are best taken off with the base whole, and should be planted in well-drained sandy soil; in due time they form roots, and ultimately from some latent bud a little shoot which forms the young plant. The treatment is precisely like that of branch cuttings. Gloxinias, begonias, etc., grow readily from fragments of the leaves cut clean through the thick veins and ribs, and planted edgewise like cuttings. This class of subjects may also be fixed flat on the surface of the cutting pot, by means of little pegs or hooks, the main ribs being cut across at intervals, and from these points roots, and eventually young tubers, will be produced." — Encyclopedia Britannica, 1893

Leaf Cuttings

"Many plans may be propagated by planting their leaves or portions of their leaves as cuttings, as,…

An illustration of leaf indentations left on club moss.

Leaf Indentations

An illustration of leaf indentations left on club moss.

An illustration of a fossil of a toothed fern. Ferns are vascular plants differing from the more primitive lycophytes by having true leaves (megaphylls), and they differ from seed plants (gymnosperms and angiosperms) in their mode of reproduction — lacking flowers and seeds. Like all other vascular plants, they have a life cycle referred to as alternation of generations, characterized by a diploid sporophytic and a haploid gametophytic phase.

Leaf Indentations

An illustration of a fossil of a toothed fern. Ferns are vascular plants differing from the more primitive…

"Shapes of margins of leaves. a (1), finely serrate; (2), coarsely serrate; (3), doubly serrate. b (1), finely dentate; (2), sinuate dentate; (3), doubly dentate. c, deeply sinuate. d, wavy. e (1), crenate or scalloped; (2), doubly crenate." -Bergen, 1896

Leaf Margins

"Shapes of margins of leaves. a (1), finely serrate; (2), coarsely serrate; (3), doubly serrate. b (1),…

"Marginal forms of leaves: a- serrate, or saw-toothed. b- dentate, or toothed. c- crenate, or scalloped. d- repand, undulate, or wavy. e- sinuate. f- incised, cut or jagged." -Foster, 1921

Leaf Margins

"Marginal forms of leaves: a- serrate, or saw-toothed. b- dentate, or toothed. c- crenate, or scalloped.…

"General outline of leaves. a, linear; b, lanceolate; c, wedge-shaped; d, spatulate; e, ovate; f, obovate; g, kidney-shaped; h, orbicular; i, elliptical." -Bergen, 1896

Leaf Shapes

"General outline of leaves. a, linear; b, lanceolate; c, wedge-shaped; d, spatulate; e, ovate; f, obovate;…

"Tips of leaves. a, acuminate or taper-pointed; b, acute; c, obtuse; d, truncate; e, retuse; f, emarginate or notched; g (end leaflet), obcordate; h, cuspidate, - the point sharp and rigid; i, mucronate, - the point merely a prolongation of the midrib." -Bergen, 1896

Leaf Tips

"Tips of leaves. a, acuminate or taper-pointed; b, acute; c, obtuse; d, truncate; e, retuse; f, emarginate…

Two examples of leaf venation: left, parallel veining; right, netted veining.

Leaf Veins

Two examples of leaf venation: left, parallel veining; right, netted veining.

"Showing the effect of cutting across the veins on the removal of food from the leaf. A, all of the main veins are cut across near their bases; B, the mid-vein alone has been severed. The stippled areas indicated the starch reaction with the iodine test." -Stevens, 1916

Cut Leaf Veins

"Showing the effect of cutting across the veins on the removal of food from the leaf. A, all of the…

An acerose, or needle-shaped leaf.

Acerose Leaf

An acerose, or needle-shaped leaf.

A scimitar-shaped leaf.

Acinaciform Leaf

A scimitar-shaped leaf.

"Acuminate.--Having an open or awl-shaped point." -Newman, 1850

Acuminate

"Acuminate.--Having an open or awl-shaped point." -Newman, 1850

An arrow-shaped leaf.

Arrow-Shaped Leaf

An arrow-shaped leaf.

Auriculate Leaf

A leaf which has the lobes at the base.

This is an example of an awl-shaped leaf.

Awl-shaped Leaf

This is an example of an awl-shaped leaf.

"Binate.--With two leaflets." -Newman, 1850

Binate

"Binate.--With two leaflets." -Newman, 1850

"Bipinnate.--Double rows of leaflets." -Newman, 1850

Bipinnate

"Bipinnate.--Double rows of leaflets." -Newman, 1850

A leaf with double the amount of feather-like leaves.

Bipinnate Leaf

A leaf with double the amount of feather-like leaves.

"Bipinnatifid.--Twice pinnatifid." -Newman, 1850

Bipinnatifid

"Bipinnatifid.--Twice pinnatifid." -Newman, 1850

A leaf with three leaflets subdivided into three different sections.

Biternate Leaf

A leaf with three leaflets subdivided into three different sections.

A clasping leaf around a stem.

Clasping Leaf

A clasping leaf around a stem.

This is an example of a pinnately cleft leaf.

Cleft Leaf

This is an example of a pinnately cleft leaf.

This is an example of a palmately cleft leaf.

Cleft Leaf

This is an example of a palmately cleft leaf.

This is an example of a compound leaf. Pinnate leaves have their leaflets arranged along the sides of the main footstalk.

Compound Leaf

This is an example of a compound leaf. Pinnate leaves have their leaflets arranged along the sides of…

This is an example of a compound leaf. Pinnate leaves have their leaflets arranged along the sides of the main footstalk.

Compound Leaf

This is an example of a compound leaf. Pinnate leaves have their leaflets arranged along the sides of…

This is an example of a compound leaf. Pinnate leaves have their leaflets arranged along the sides of the main footstalk.

Compound Leaf

This is an example of a compound leaf. Pinnate leaves have their leaflets arranged along the sides of…

This is an example of a compound leaf. Palmate leaves have their leaflets arranged on the very end of the footstalk.

Compound Leaf

This is an example of a compound leaf. Palmate leaves have their leaflets arranged on the very end of…

This is an example of a twice-pinnate leaf of the Honey-locust.

Compound Leaf

This is an example of a twice-pinnate leaf of the Honey-locust.