Leaf Area and Absolute Leaf Water Content

Leaf area was found to be an almost linear function of absolute leaf water content (that is fresh weight—dry weight) for several dicotyledonous genotypes. A closely similar relationship held for a given genotype in the same rooting medium despite increasing plant size and different treatments which resulted in leaves which were sometimes morphologically dissimilar and often substantially different in specific leaf water contents (water/dry matter). The usefulness of the linear relationship for estimating leaf area in growth studies is noted.