The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Heterophylly

the presence of differently shaped leaves on the same shoot or on different shoots of the same plant. Heterophylly occurs in many aquatic plants (for example, arrowhead, water crowfoot, water starwort, and some species of pondweed), in which the underwater leaves often differ sharply in form from those growing above the water.

In aquatic plants, heterophylly has an adaptive significance; the more finely divided underwater leaves are better able to absorb the carbon dioxide dissolved in the water. Heterophylly also occurs in land plants (for instance, in mulberry, some species of eucalyptus, and ivy) and is linked with developmental changes. (For example, in mulberry the leaves of the young shoots of non-fruit-bearing trees are often divided into lobes, while the leaves of older shoots are broad ovals or ovate.) Heterophylly in land plants is also associated with varying functions. In the epiphytic tropical fern Platycerium the first leaves are cup-shaped. When rotting leaves and branches fall into these cups, a layer of soil is formed and the air roots settle in. Subsequently formed leaves are long and serve to assimilate nutrients.

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References in periodicals archive

The seedlings showed heterophylly, and the main root was degenerated, forming adventitious roots.

Fruit and seed biometry and germination of Victoria amazonica (Poepp.) J.C. Sowerby (Nymphaeaceae) from the Pantanal floodplain/ Biometria do fruto e da semente e germinacao de victoria amazonica (Poepp.) J.C. Sowerby (Nymphaeaceae) do Pantanal

No clear-cut differences between heterophylly and heteroblasty are mentioned in most of the literature, and these two processes are described interchangeably (see e.g.

The ecophysiological factors associated with heterophylly and heteroblasty have been discussed by Allsopp (1965), Jones (2001), and Zotz et al.

Based on studies in Syngonium (Araceae), Ray (1987) clearly described the so-called cyclic heterophylly as a differential development on distinct vegetative growth cycles; later, the same author (1990) refined this concept based on the examination of other Araceae, and described it as a "metamorphosis", which clearly differentiates first order from higher orders of development during leaf morphogenesis.

Leaf development, metamorphic heteroblasty and heterophylly in Berberis s. l

Wells CL, Pigliucci M (2000) Adaptive phenotypic plasticity: the case of heterophylly in aquatic plants.

Effect of water level on the size and leaf biomass of Sagittaria macrophylla (Alismataceae)/Efecto del nivel de agua sobre el tamano y biomasa foliar de Sagittaria macrophylla (Alismataceae)/Efeito do nivel de agua sobre o tamanho e biomassa foliar de Sagittaria macrophylla (Alismataceae)

heterophylly. Although Jones (1999) has discussed major conceptual and terminological issues in an excellent essay, subsequent studies have paid little attention to her suggestions.

Similarly inconsistent is the use of the term "heterophylly" in the current literature.

In contrast to heterophylly, heteroblastic development can only be modified, but is not driven, by environmental stimuli.

Heteroblasty--a review

(2009) found positive selection in some lines with heterophylly. This increase in the aminoacid substitution rate may imply a continuous adjustment of RuBisCo over variable ecological conditions.

The floristic heterogeneity of the Pantanal and the occurrence of species with different adaptive strategies to water stress/A heterogeneidade floristica do Pantanal e a ocorrencia de especies com diferentes estrategias adaptativas ao estresse hidrico

Heterophylly is a conspicuous feature of many extant climbing plants (Cremers, 1973, 1974; Madison, 1977; Hegarty, 1989; Lee & Richards, 1991) and has also been demonstrated for the hook-scrambling/climbing pteridosperm taxa Mariopteris nervosa from the Westphalian of Great Britain (Kidston, 1925) and Pseudomariopteris busquetii from the Stephanian and Early Permian of France and Germany (Krings & Kerp, 2000; Krings et al., 2001a) and for the tendril-climber Blanzyopteris praedentata from the Stephanian of France (Figs.

How Paleozoic vines and lianas got off the ground: on scrambling and climbing Carboniferous--early Permian pteridosperms

Venation characters differentiate these two species, including short- and long-twig leaves; and, regardless of the great heterophylly found in both species, all leaves are correctly classified.

A Foliar Morphometric Approach to the Study of Salicaceae

A good example is heterophylly in aquatic plants, such as in Ranunculus flabellaris (Ranunculaceae) (Young et al., 1995).

Heterochrony in Plant Evolutionary Studies through the Twentieth Century