Are Leaves Alive?
[caption id="attachment_9521" align="alignright" width="380"] Kalanchoe daigremontiana - Image CC SA 3.0 by Abrahami[/caption] Simple questions can be the most intriguing. We will ponder the answer to the question: Are leaves alive? In so doing, we will discover leaves were not created equal. Trees Consider deciduous trees (trees that seasonally lose their leaves). In autumn their leaves change color as their petioles detach. The leaves then fall to the ground. The tree does not die with the loss of its leaves. Like Fingers? A first impression might be that leaves are alive in the same sense that fingers are. However, fingers are not discarded seasonally. So could it be leaves more closely resemble fingernails, which humans clip regularly? Like Fingernails? Or Are Leaves Alive? No. Fingernails, devoid of internal structure, are…