Q.
Observe the following leaf of papaya and state its type.
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NTA AbhyasNTA Abhyas 2020Morphology of Flowering Plants
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Solution:
A leaf is said to be simple, when its lamina is entire or when incised, the incisions do not touch the midrib. In this leaf, the incisions don't reach the midrib so it is a simple palmate leaf. When the incisions of the lamina reach up to the midrib breaking it into a number of leaflets, the leaf is called compound. The compound leaves may be of two types: In a pinnately compound leaf, a number of leaflets are present on a common axis, the rachis, which represents the midrib of the leaf as in neem. In palmately compound leaves, the leaflets are attached at a common point, i.e., at the tip of the petiole, as in silk cotton. A leaf having divisions that are themselves compound are called decompound leaves.
