What is a Compound leaf?? ( in laymans terms) LOL

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swtnis Rotonda West, FL(Zone 10a) Apr 19, 2009

I have no clue as to what that means... I have tried to decipher the anatomy of a leaf and I still do not get it... help please

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ecrane3 Dublin, CA(Zone 9a) Apr 19, 2009

Here's a good definition of it along with a picture to illustrate http://davesgarden.com/guides/terms/go/1726.html

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swtnis Rotonda West, FL(Zone 10a) Apr 19, 2009

Thank you, and just when I thought I knew what it meant , I am wrong again lol... what I am trying to figure out is this ... ...They say a Brazilian pepper Tree has compound leaves, and that the dahoon holly tree has alternate leaves.. But for the life of me I can not see the difference .....

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ecrane3 Dublin, CA(Zone 9a) Apr 19, 2009

Alternate and compound refer to two different aspects of the leaf so they're not mutually exclusive. As you're looking at a branch that has leaves coming off of it, opposite and alternate refer to the arrangement of leaves coming off that branch--with opposite leaves, you'll find leaves on the left and right of the branch occur directly across from each other, and for alternate leaves, they will be staggered. Compound means that instead of one individual leaf coming off the branch at each point, the leaf is further subdivided into smaller leaflets. But compound leaves can still have opposite or alternate arrangement where they come off of the main branch

Here's a picture of holly leaves...look at the branch going horizontally through the middle of the picture. You can see that there are a number of leaves coming off of the branch, and the leaves alternate on either side of the branch
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/97559/

Here's a picture of a Lonicera species that has opposite leaves--note how the leaves on each branch are coming out exactly across from each other
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/64987/

And here's a picture of the pepper tree...look at the branch that goes vertically through the middle of the picture. Coming off of that branch, you can see that instead of one leaf coming off the branch at each point like the holly and the honeysuckle, there is a group of leaves.
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/149606/
Here's another example of compound leaves that is maybe a little easier to see than the pepper tree
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/77925/

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