compound leaf

American  

noun

1. a leaf composed of a number of leaflets on a common stalk, arranged either palmately, as the fingers of a hand, or pinnately, as the leaflets of a fern; the leaflets themselves may be compound.

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compound leaf British  

noun

1. a leaf consisting of two or more leaflets borne on the same leafstalk

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compound leaf Scientific  

1. A leaf that is composed of two or more leaflets on a common stalk. Clover, roses, sumac, and walnut trees have compound leaves.

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Etymology

Origin of compound leaf

First recorded in 1875–80

Example Sentences

In a compound leaf, the leaf blade is completely divided, forming leaflets, as in the locust tree.

From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022

How does a compound leaf give a selective advantage to avoid herbivory?

From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022

Look at the leaflets on the compound leaf, and if there are over seven, they are hybrids, and if they are extra vigorous growing, they are hybrids, because they occasionally pollenize.

From Northern Nut Growers Association Report of the Proceedings at the 41st Annual Meeting Pleasant Valley, New York, August 28, 29 and 30, 1950 by Northern Nut Growers Association

I have seen a leaflet low down in the compound leaf of Vicia sativa replaced by a tendril; and a tendril possesses many peculiar properties, such as spontaneous movement and irritability.

From The Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication — Volume 2 by Darwin, Charles

The stalk of a leaflet in a compound leaf.

From Handbook of the Trees of New England by Dame, Lorin Low