The condition or practice of having leaves of different shapes or types on the same plant; leaf dimorphism or polymorphism.
From Greek hetero- (different) + phyllon (leaf) + -y (condition/state). A botanical term describing variable leaf morphology within a single plant.
Heterophyly is an evolutionary trick where plants deliberately make their leaves look different—it confuses insects and herbivores who recognize plants by leaf shape, so they can't find or eat the plant as easily!
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