Leaves can point you towards identification

17th October 2021

You can use leaf shape to get a rough idea of what group a plant belongs to, so that even if you can't identify it fully, you can start looking in the right place: a long strappy leaf with parallel veins and no leaf stalk directs you towards the 'monocots', like grasses or lilies; a leaf with a stalk, broad and with a network of veins, or made up of leaflets, takes you towards the group 'dicots' or 'eudicots'.