Uniformity in Leaf Patterns (BioE80 Spr2015)
May 24, 2015 • 3:00 AM UTC
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lmurphy8
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I have begun my journey into the micro-cosmic plant universe; leaves are my first frontier as head of the Human Microscopy Excursion (HME). We first obtained a leaf sample from a mysterious tree within the jungles of the Stanford University Engineering Quad, a region of exotic flora and fauna. Upon obtaining the sample, our research group posed a question: do the segments of leaf matter in between the primary vascular bundles of have any sort of uniform partitioning? To find observations to regarding our inquiry, we tore off a small segment of the leaf sample and prepared a slide. Using our Foldscope, we were able to examine the plant matter in great detail. As shown by several photographs, each region of leaf between primary and secondary vascular tissue (the large and small lines when looking at a leaf) seems to have a completely irregular, angular shape; no two sections are the same. On either side of the primary vessels, no similarity in shape is apparent. The collected images support that regularity and/or symmetry among the inter-vessel regions of the leaf does not exist. This conclusion only poses more questions for the organization. Do all leaves of this species of tree have similar patterns of inter-vessel regions? Is this leaf an anomaly, with the majority of leaves having some sort of symmetry across vascular bundles? With the next HME visit to the Stanford University Engineering Quad, we may obtain more answers.
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