Pressed Leaves

Back in August I trimmed the lower branches from our sycamore and saved some of the leaves by inserting them with paper towels in a book. I rediscovered the books with the pressed leaves yesterday. The leaves had dried retaining their characteristic overall shape. The top side of the leaves was a dull green – darker than the fresh leaves. The underside was lighter and the veins were still easy to spot. Between the veins the leaf was as delicate as tissue paper.

Taking a close up – the veins are brown instead of the light green they were when they were fresh. Sycamore leaves are a little fuzzy on the underside and that still seems to be true for these dried leaves.

There was a tiny leaf that was dominated by the veins that bring the water and nutrients from the soil up to the leaves. The new leaves are structured for their growth throughout the season so their veins always look large in proportion to the size of the leave. If this one would not have been cut it would have increased dramatically in size before the fall.

Sometimes insects cause leaves to take on a lace-like appearance. This leaf might have fallen early even if I had not cut the branch.

The last leaf I photographed was two colors and reminded me of a topological map with mountains and valley – brown rock and green forests.

At first I thought I might try to make Zentangle® patterns on the leaves….now I’m not so sure. They crumb very easily.