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Phyllodes

In many species of Acacia (and perhaps of some members of Fabaceae), the petioles are enlarged and photosynthetic, and replace the leaf lamina. This structure is called a phyllode. The ways to recognise phyllodes are that (1) they are usually flattened sideways (i.e. up and down the stem), whereas conventional leaves are usually flattened top to bottom, (2) they are usually asymmetrical, (3) the venation is often very irregular, (4) they may have a gland on the top edge.
A seedling of Acacia myrtifolia with both phyllodes and bipinnate leaves	Phyllodes of A. gunnii	A phyllode of A. melanoxylon

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