Why Leaves Are The Shape They Are

Once you really take a close look at trees you’ll realize that they are more than just things we should take for granted, they are all unique and they provide a lot to the environment all around them. One of the most remarkable things about a tree is its leaves, their color, their size, and particularly their shape. It comes as a surprise to many that the shape of trees leaves doesn’t happen by chance, it happens because the tree depends on its leaves to do many jobs for it. The shape of a leaf helps determine how healthy and how long a tree can live, so while the leaves on the tree can be beautiful they are also quite practical as well.

Leaves are thin in nature because they need to allow light to pass through them to disperse chloroplast throughout the tree to keep it healthy, and green! Allowing light to pass through the leaves also creates energy to keep the tree at an ideal temperature so that it can survive the temperature extremes of both the summer and winter months. The shape of the leaves will also aid the tree in respiration, transpiration, guttation, and they are also a source of food and water for the tree. The leaves are essentially the lifelines of the tree aside from its root structure because they are a part of so much of what a tree is capable of doing.

Without leaves trees would not be the huge benefit that they are to the ecosystems and environments overall. Leaves aid in putting oxygen into the air, dispersing nutrients into the air, and even purifying the air around it. Leaves are an asset because they take in energy and help feed the tree so that it can produce fruit and feed people and animals that rely on such products to live a healthy life. Without leaves, trees would honestly cease to exist because they wouldn’t have a way to store food and water, and there would be a lack of energy. Leaves and their shape are not something that has happened by accident; they have evolved to meet the needs of the tree.

So, leaves are the main support system for the whole life tree, other than the roots so they are very important. The fact that they are pretty is just a bonus. And, as the temperature turns the leaves will start to turn colours because their job for the season is done. They have provided the tree with all of the food and energy supplies that they have and they simply turn colour as they lose the chloroplast and then they fall to the ground. The colours are quite impressive, but it’s simply part of the process of the tree going dormant for the season. It seems a beautiful and fitting way for leaves to go out, in vibrant colours of red and orange before they gently fade away until the spring when the process will start all over again.

The more you learn about the leaves on trees the more interesting they will become to you. Yes, leaves are beautiful but they also have several vital roles to the health of the tree. Without leaves, there would be no trees, and without trees the world would be a vastly different place. So, enjoy the leaves while they are here, but also remember what a truly vital role that they play in the health of a tree.