Veins in larger and smaller leaves
Larger leaves have their major veins spaced farther apart. The squares show second and third-order leaf veins, matched with leaf silhouettes for given species of a Panamanian rainforest, all drawn to the same scale.
UCLA research shows how the scaling of vein systems across flowering plants arises from a general developmental algorithm and explains global ecological patterns.
(Credit: Lawren Sack, UCLA Life Sciences)