Leaf vegetable
A plant cultivated or gathered chiefly for its edible leaves. Spinach, lettuce, and kale are common examples.
Leaf: A plant organ that captures light and exchanges gases, usually through a flattened blade. Leaf vegetables are defined by harvesting this plant organ for food.
Spinach: A leafy crop, Spinacia oleracea, eaten raw or cooked for its tender leaves. Spinach is a widely grown example with leaves used in salads and cooked dishes.
Leaf area index: The ratio of a plant canopy's total leaf area to the ground area it covers. Canopy leaf area helps explain how leafy crops capture light and support rapid growth.
Root vegetable: A vegetable grown or harvested chiefly for an edible root or enlarged underground organ. Root vegetables are classified by the underground part eaten, not by their leaves.
Vegetable: A culinary category for edible plant parts, including leaves, stems, roots, flowers, and fruits. The category explains how leaf vegetables fit among foods grouped by culinary use.
Lettuce: A cultivated plant, Lactuca sativa, grown chiefly for leaves or a compact head. Lettuce shows how leaf vegetables can be harvested as loose leaves or whole heads.
Apical dominance: The suppression of lateral bud growth by signals from a plant's active shoot tip. Removing shoot tips can alter branching and the production of harvestable leaves.
Stem vegetable: A vegetable whose edible portion is chiefly a plant stem or shoot. Stem vegetables are distinguished by the harvested organ rather than the leaf.
Herbaceous plant: A plant with soft, nonwoody stems that typically die back after a growing season. Many familiar leaf vegetables are soft-stemmed crops harvested before flowering.
Kale: A leafy cultivar group of Brassica oleracea with edible, often ruffled leaves. Kale exemplifies a hardy leaf crop whose leaves are eaten raw or cooked.