Abstract
Across plants, leaves exhibit profound diversity in shape. As a single leaf expands, its shape is in constant flux. Additionally, plants may also produce leaves with different shapes at successive nodes. Because leaf shape can vary in many different ways, theoretically the effects of distinct processes are separable, even within the shape of a single leaf. Here, we measure the shapes of >3,200 leaves representing >270 vines from wild relatives of domesticated grape. We isolate latent shapes embedded within the overall shape of leaves that can predict developmental stages independent from species identity and vice versa. Shapes predictive of development are then used to stage leaves from 1,200 varieties of domesticated grape, revealing that changes in timing underlie leaf shape diversity. Our results indicate distinct latent shapes combine to produce a composite morphology in leaves, and that developmental and evolutionary contributions to shape vary independently from each other.
