Trickle tip

Ficus religiosa with a long, tailed tip of the trickle

The trickle tip is an elongated tip of the leaf in plants in damp locations, which favors the drainage of rainwater from the leaf surface.

meaning

The function of the trickle tip is to prevent the permanent establishment of a moist environment on the leaf surface - and the associated colonization by algae , moss or lichens . This is favored by a flexible petiole (which tilts down under the load of larger amounts of water) and epicuticular waxes .

Occurrence

Träufelspitzen are typical morphological features of plants of tropical locations (z. B. poplar fig , Ficus benjamina ), but are also common in plants of temperate latitudes, such. B. in the blackberry , ivy and some deciduous moss . In the latter, the trickle tip is also referred to as glass hair .

literature

• Eduard Strasburger (greeting), Andreas Bresinsky (editing), Christian Körner (editing), Gunther Neuhaus (editing), Uwe Sonnewald (editing): Strasburger. Textbook of botany . 36th edition. Spectrum Akademischer Verlag, Heidelberg 2008, ISBN 978-3-8274-1455-7 (former title: Textbook of botany for universities ).