We can find all kinds of leaves on our planet. Just think of tiny pine needles, fern fronds, ivy vines, or a big banana leaf.

Eric Roalson.
Roalson

My friend Eric Roalson is a professor in the school of Biological Sciences at Washington State University who is very curious about plants. He said there are a few things that give leaves their shapes.

A lot of plant families have been around for hundreds of millions of years—so they have had a lot of time to adapt to their environments, too. Plants may keep the qualities that have helped them survive through the years. They might develop new qualities that help them survive in their habitats. Or they might lose the qualities that are no longer useful.

Roalson also told me that plants in the same family often have similar shaped leaves. But not always. We see a lot of biodiversity in plants—that is, a variety of colors, shapes, and sizes in a community of living things.

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