Heterophyllous
Sign in to savethumb|The two distinct leaf types of Ranunculus aquatilis, the common water-crowfoot, at and under the water surface. Heterophylly is where a plant has at least two different types of leaves. The differences may be in shape or size of the leaves. A particularly dramatic example of a heterophyllous plant is Ranunculus aquatilis. It, like many aquatic plants, develops two very distinctive leaf types in response to the top of the plant being exposed to air. Underwater the leaves are very divided into thin strands while at or above the water surface it produces a wide, only partly divided, leaf bl
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thumb|The two distinct leaf types of Ranunculus aquatilis, the common water-crowfoot, at and under the water surface. Heterophylly is where a plant has at least two different types of leaves. The differences may be in shape or size of the leaves. A particularly dramatic example of a heterophyllous plant is Ranunculus aquatilis. It, like many aquatic plants, develops two very distinctive leaf types in response to the top of the plant being exposed to air. Underwater the leaves are very divided into thin strands while at or above the water surface it produces a wide, only partly divided, leaf blade.
The first use in English was in 1874 by Robert Brown in his A Manuel of Botany. There he defined it as, "variation in the external form of leaves". Heterophylly is a compound word "hetero-" from the Greek ἕτερος meaning different combined with "-phylly" from Greek φύλλον meaning leaf.