Fig. 1.
Scaling relationships of total leaf area with height, and vessel traits with height and total leaf area, in Moringa oleifera. (A) Total leaf area closely scales with height as LA ∝ H1.859. (B) Vessel diameter varies predictably with height at the stem apex. (C) Given a constant widening rate, vessel diameter at the stem base also varies predictably with height. (D) Total vessel number increases at a lower rate than total leaf area, presumably because wider apical and basal vessel diameters with increasing height cause an increase in individual vessel conductance with height, allowing a similar area of leaf to be supplied by fewer vessels. (E) Accordingly, total vessel number increases with height at a lower rate than leaf area. (F) Average vessel diameter at the stem base becomes wider in taller plants, leading to an increase in basal vessel diameter with total leaf area. The confidence intervals for the slopes and intercepts are shown in Table 1. P<0.001 for all R2. n=139 in all cases.