Scaned Leaves

[Iro Koii]

Everyone has seen a picture of a fig leaf, right? After all, they are almost always used to cover up the "naughty bits" in paintings and even on some statues. But can you produce a realistic fig leaf from memory? It occurred to me that I could not, even though I live in the southwest where fig trees grow next to every other house.

A quick search of the web confirmed what I suspected. Sure, you can find pictures of fig trees and their leaves on the web, but none of them are particularly detailed. Upshot? I thought some members might find scanned images of various things, such as fig leaves, useful.

I've scanned quite a few other kinds of leaves. If there is enough interest, I'll post more of them.

Iro Koii

 

[Iro Koii]

Fig Leaf Scan: Bottom side

Here is the bottom of this same leaf. Mature fig leaves are about the same size or a little larger than a man's hand (fingers spread). The stems are quite thick and are attached to the leaf at about a 30 degree angle to the surface of the leaf.

Do you live in the north and need a scan of a species native to the south? Post a request here. I'll see if I can't find one for you.

Iro Koii.

 

[Bubble]

Excellent idea Iro... i could certainly benefit from some of these images. Thanks :}

 

[Iro Koii]

Fig Leaf flipped

Here's the flip side of the same leaf. These are fairly large leaves, somewhat larger than the hand of a grown man with his fingers spread wide.

The stem is quite thick, and is attached to the leaf at about a 30 degree angle to the upper surface of the leaf.

Bubbles, glad to hear you think this is useful.

Iro Koii.

 

[Iro Koii]

Morning Glory

The Morning Glory is something of a puzzle palace in its own right. Flower lovers love it. Farmers with large fields hate it. Even the wild or "feral" varieties of the vine are beautiful.

One of the oddities about the morning glory and its relatives (ipomea) is that the shape of its leaves will often vary markedly on the same vine and from one variaty or cultivar to the next. They are all near enough the same that you can identify the plant, but I don't know many others that pull this stunt with its leaves.

 

[Iro Koii]

Morning Glories 2

Here is both sides of another leaf that I picked from the exact same vine. See what I mean about the morning glory being something of a puzzle?

 

[sfm]

I like your leaves idea never thought of that one he he he and there are no fig trees in these parts and no I couldn't remember what they looked like either.........
The morning glory is interesting........ are there no 2 leaves the same or is it maturity that brings the unique curve?
thanks for the pics (I assume we are allowed to use them?)
sfm

 

[wbiss]

Tx for sharing your scans and your Botony knowledge Iro Koii!

[shhh] Now I know where to come when I've got some "naughty bits" that need covering!

 

[Moth]

B7 Thank you for sharing the scans. I might try paint one tonight to see if I can do it.

 

[Iro Koii]

You are welcome, Wendy, 78nbsp. I cannot say whether the difference in leaf shapes on the morning glory is owing to maturity or not. I suspect, but cannot confirm, that it is more a matter of season. I think what is happening is tha leaves budding in early spring have one shape and leaves budding out later in the summer have another. It will take a year of careful observation to say for sure.

I shan't claim the title botanist. I spent most of my life working construction, but most of my family is or was engaged in farming and/or ranching. My knowledge of plants is purely informal. I have some more scans, but will post them later.

Glad to know someone is finding this stuff useful,

Iro Koii.

 

[Iro Koii]

Here's a couple of more. These are from a blue oak, probably one of the smallest of the oaks, seldom growing more than a foot in diameter and usually under 40' tall. The wood from this tree is quite nice, having a very dark hard wood and interesting grain. The tree prefers swampy areas, which we have in abundance in the Houston area.

Iro Koii.

 

[Alistair]

AHHH. NICE LEAVES BUT DO YOU MIND putting down the waulity on those images please? Some of us only have 56k modems!! (like me). To save at a safe qaulity, in ps, do save as for web, set to jpeg high. [stuned] Thanks - Alistair

 

[Iro Koii]

Alistaire,

I am doing my best to balance image quality against the abilities of the forum's server to store and deliver images. That means that if you want the images, patience is required. I am uploading these with a 56k modem. Instant gratification is not part of the equation. Of what use are scans like these to you as a reference if all the details are erased by compression and resizing?

Here, I'll demonstrate.

Here are pictures of leaves from a rattan vine @144 dpi.

 

[Iro Koii]

Now here are two tiny zones from the same leaf at 1200 dpi.

See what you're missing at 144 dpi? The idea here is to give everyone some idea of how to construct realistic leaf textures. How can that be done with a 72 dpi reference pic? Personally, I have my doubts about the utility of a 144 dpi reference, but it beats the living daylights out of nothing.

Oh, I nearly forgot to mention this. Wicker furniture is made with rattan vines. Rattan furniture is made from the rattan palm. I don't have pictures of the rattan palm, let alone scans of the leaves.

See ya,

Iro Koii.

 

[wbiss]

Alistair, as long as Iro Koii's scans fall within the guidelines of the board (150 kb max, 640 pixel width max) there's no harm done.

And as he says, he's trying to find a happy balance between quality and these guidelines. I'm a 56k user too... 'twas "no skin off my nose", Iro Koii!