Leaf window

A flowering Fenestraria rhopalophylla, so named due to the translucent leaf window on the tips of its modified leaf.

Leaf window is a specialized leaf structure consisting of a translucent area where sunlight can enter into the interior surfaces of the plant's modified leaf where photosynthesis can occur. A leaf with such structures is known as a Fenestrated leaf. The translucent structure can appear as a large continuous patch, a variegated or reticulated region, or as numerous small spots. This structural adaptation is found in certain succulent plants native to arid climates, which allow much of the plant to remain beneath the soil surface where it is protected from desiccation of extreme winds and heat while optimizing the absorption of light by increasing the photosynthetic surface area.

Much of the known leaf window containing species are native to South Africa and neighbouring countries.

Species

The leaf window of Lithops salicola has a mottled appearance to act as camouflage

Genus of plants with numerous species having leaf windows include:

• Conophytum spp.
• Fenestraria spp.
• Frithia spp.
• Haworthia spp.
• Lithops spp.
• Pleiospilos spp.

Several other plant species have leaf windows:

• Bulbine haworthioides
• Bulbine mesembryanthemoides
• Peperomia columella

Plants with leaf windows are sometimes known as window plants, though the name is used to refer to Fenestraria rhopalophylla.