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Forest Vines to Snow Tussocks: The Story of New Zealand Plants
Leaf size
Leaf size
The average leaf size is considerably less in the New Zealand conifer broadleaf than in tropical rain forest. This can be demonstrated by comparing the species of a far northern New Zealand forest with a Philippines forest in terms of a now widely accepted leaf size classification.
| Philippines Forest21 | |
| Species with macrophylls (leaves 18-60 cm long*) | 10% |
| Species with mesophylls (leaves 6-18 cm long) | 86% |
| Species with microphylls (leaves 2-6 cm long) | 4% |
| New Zealand Forest22 | |
| Species with macrophylls | 1% |
| Species with mesophylls | 25% |
| Species with microphylls | 68% |
| Species with nanophylls (leaves 1-2 cm long) | 6% |
The smaller leaf sizes in New Zealand probably correlate with lower temperatures.23