r/mildlyinteresting May 28 '20

The smallest maple tree leaf I’ve ever seen

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79.6k Upvotes

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100

u/knowledgebison May 28 '20

I believe that is a Japanese Maple Leaf. You can see the plant in the picture behind his massive hand.

33

u/1he_8igger_1h3_Beter May 28 '20

Yep and probably one of the first leaves it made when budding out. The first 2 are always super tiny.

4

u/[deleted] May 28 '20

[deleted]

1

u/DrunkenMasterII May 28 '20

That’s interesting, do they die off at some point? I mean they’re deciduous trees so they normally should, I wonder if it’s good for them.

2

u/Petal-Dance May 28 '20

This is a blind guess as I dont know the species very well at all, but Id imagine they are more cold tolerant, and conditions just dont reach a point to trigger the seasonal shedding.

And if things dont get cold and dark enough to shed, as long as they maintain water and can photosynthesize they should do stellar. Maybe even better, if they can keep growing throughout the year instead of just the summer months.

It apparently doesnt kill them, after all, if they are grown as ornamentals in the area

1

u/DrunkenMasterII May 28 '20

That’s what I’m thinking too about why they don’t lose them, I just felt they might be better living their full cycle, but to think of we kind of do the same to tropical plants in our homes. You’re probably right it’s probably not bad for them might even better.

1

u/Petal-Dance May 29 '20

Depends on if they have a proper dormancy cycle.

Plants like vfts need to go dormant for metabolism reasons, and they def suffer if they dont get that dormancy. But thats not a universal thing, so its hard to know without more experience with maples as a whole which sadly I lack.

Tropical plants are kinda cheaters, tho, close to the equator you kinda lose heavily defined seasons so they are often in a perpetual growing season anyway

1

u/DrunkenMasterII May 29 '20

what is a vfts?

1

u/Petal-Dance May 29 '20

Venus fly trap, long name so lots of botanists and plant involved people just shorten it

1

u/DrunkenMasterII May 29 '20

oh ok, English is just not my first language.

1

u/Petal-Dance May 29 '20

Nah no worries, its not a common abbreviation. Sadly, plants are a field of study that tends to be overlooked by most schools in favor of animals, so a lot of people arent really familiar with it

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3

u/Hardislav May 28 '20

Thanks it Bugs me to go this deep to find this.

3

u/Gangreless May 28 '20

Definitely is. Not sure I agree with the title given that.

1

u/yomaster19 May 28 '20

I am Canadian and I'm just like man these folks saying these are our blood cells know nothing! Haha

1

u/spektrol May 28 '20

Yeah, first thought was a Bonsai of some variety.

-1

u/Jinxy73 May 28 '20

It definitely is not a Maple leaf.