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

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

compound leaf

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

From Textbooks ● Jun. 9, 2022

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

From Textbooks ● Jun. 9, 2022

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 Charles Darwin

The separate blades of a compound leaf are called leaflets.

From Trees of the Northern United States Their Study, Description and Determination by A. C. (Austin Craig) Apgar

One of these is the cut-leaf black walnut which has the ordinary compound leaf but whose individual leaflets are so scalloped and serrated that they resemble a male fern.

From Growing Nuts in the North A Personal Story of the Author's Experience of 33 Years with Nut Culture in Minnesota and Wisconsin by Carl Weschcke

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