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Botanical Terminology Tutorial
Leaf Arrangement
Venation
Leaf Shape
Leaf Margin
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Leaf Arrangement: Whorled
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Click on the name for detailed information on the plant.
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Illustration of Whorled Arrangement
Southern Catalpa
(Catalpa bignonioides)
More difficult: On closer inspection these following examples are alternate, but at first glance these are often described as having a whorled appearance.
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Japanese Pachysandra
(Pachysandra terminalis)
Japanese pieris
(Pieris japonica)

 

 

Whorled

Def: Three or more leaves arising from a single node.


This is one of the more difficult leaf arrangements to identify. Many plants are listed as having a whorled appearance, but the leaves may actually alternate up the stem in a tight spiral. See Arrangement Along Stem under Arrangement: Opposite.

Note: In Central Illinois Catalpa bignonioides is our example of whorled arrangement.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Botanical Terminology > Leaf Arrangement > Whorled  
 

©2005 Gary J. Kling and Laura L. Hayden, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
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Notes about this tutorial.