Question Video: Describing the Structure of a Mimosa Plant Leaf Biology • Second Year of Secondary School

Video Transcript

What shape do Mimosa leaves take? (A) Rosette, (B) deltoid, (C) circular, (D) trifoliate, or (E) pinnate.

This question is asking us to determine the shape of the leaves of the Mimosa plant.

The leaves of the Mimosa plant are called compound leaves. This means that each leaf is made of several distinct leaflets, which is the name given to the smaller leafy subdivisions of the leaf. The stalk of the leaf is called the petiole. The petiole branches into four slender extensions called rachises. The multiple small leaflike structures attached to each rachis are called pinnules or sometimes leaflets. Each rachis along with its pinnules compose a single pinna. The pinnae give the shape of the leaf its name: a pinnately compound leaf.

So the correct answer is (E). Mimosa leaves take a pinnate shape.