What Plant Has the Biggest Leaves?
Two species of palm trees have the largest leaves in the world. The raffia palm that grows in the Mascarene Islands in the Indian Ocean and the Amazonian bamboo palm of South America both have leaf blades (leaves with supporting stems) that measure up to 65 feet, 6 inches (about 20 meters) long. How do vines climb? Some plants, referred to as vines, need support to grow to their full height. Vines climb in different ways. Some have soft, twisting stems, or tendrils, that they use to climb up other, stronger plants or supports. (In such vines, once they touch supports, hormones make their stems grow more quickly on one side than the other, producing clinging spirals.) Other climbing plants have special growths, like tiny aerial roots or pad like suckers on their stems, that help them cling to walls and trees. Still others use hook-tipped leaves or sharp thorny spines-like climbing roses-to hold onto upright surfaces. Vines occur in many different groups of plants-they can be deciduous (
