Caesalpinia echinata Lam. (Caesalpiniaceae) is a tree species that naturally regenerates in the forest understory and reaches the upper canopy through small gaps. We conducted a study with the objective of comparing some aspects of leaf morphology of adult individuals, in which the leaves were exposed to full sunlight, and saplings, grown in the forest understory. The study was conducted in a semidecidual forest in Jussari, southern Bahia, Brazil. Initially, eight adult and eight sapling individuals were selected and marked. In September/October, 2004 and April, 2005 eight leaves for each adult and three leaves for each sapling individual were collected and analyzed. In general, the area of leaves, rachis and leaflets, the length of rachis, the width of leaves, the number of pinnes and the dried mass of leaves were significantly higher in young individuals. Notwithstanding, the specific mass of leaves and leaflets were significantly higher in the adults. For both, adults and saplings, strong relationships were observed between the leaf dried mass and leaf area. Based on the results, we conclude that the leaves of C. echinata present characteristics that allow the maximization of light absorption in environments in which light radiation is a limiting factor, at the same time allocating carbon to the support tissues. The results obtained in the present study were in accordance with the successional status of this tree species and its strategies to occupy small canopy gaps of the semidecidual forest environments.
Atlantic Forest; leaf area; natural regeneration
