about leaves
Leaves are not just the principal part of the plant. Leaves are the plant: trunk and roots are part of the leaf, the base of the leaf, the simple extension by which leaves, in staying high up in the air, are supported by and nourish themselves from the soil. […] The whole plant is identified in the leaf, to which the other organs are just appendages. - Sergio Stefano Tonzig
A leaf is the key organ of a plant.
Leaves have different forms and structures, which have been developed to help the plant survive in a variety of conditions.
We can see leaves, which are very big and green, or stiff, hard and glossy, where others are small, grey and powdery in appearance.
Each leaf is unique, even if it comes from the same plant, the same species.
Looking at the plants’ leaves helps us to understand nature’s rhythms and seasons.
We can observe how leaves go through the cycles, how they change colour, often from green into yellow, red, brown… they fall from the plant, they die and then new leaves appear again.
A leaf and the changes it experiences, makes us more familiar and accepting of the passing of time, and the importance of birth, death and rebirth.
A plant is most importantly a leaf and all life on the Earth as we know depends on leaves.