leafless

Leafless describes organisms that lack leaves. In botany, leaflessness can be seasonal or permanent. Seasonal leaflessness is common among deciduous trees and shrubs in temperate climates: leaves are shed each autumn to reduce water loss and prepare for winter, leaving bare branches until spring bud break.

Permanent leaflessness occurs in certain non-photosynthetic plants, particularly parasitic and mycoheterotrophic species. These plants may lack chlorophyll and true leaves entirely, and depend on host plants or associated fungi for carbon and nutrients. Monotropa uniflora, the ghost plant or Indian pipe, is a well-known example: it has a fleshy white stem, no chlorophyll, and no true leaves. Other examples include several Orobanche species (broomrapes) and Cuscuta (dodder), which derive nutrients from host roots or stems. Some leafless orchids, such as Epipogium aphyllum, lose green leaves during part of their life cycle.

The absence of leaves often corresponds to alternative strategies: reliance on underground or fungal connections, reduced metabolic costs, or specialized stems carrying photosynthetic tissue when present. Leafless plants may still carry flowers and reproductive structures.

In everyday language, leafless commonly describes trees in winter or bare branches, but within botany it covers both seasonal and permanent states, and it highlights the diversity of plant adaptations to environments and ecological relationships.