From forty leaves of 2.5 month old cupuassu seedlings, area of the leaf, fresh weight, blade fresh weight, leaf length, blade length, greatest blade width, distance between the base and the greatest width and the dry weight of the leaf, were taken. Using "Stepwise" regression, equations were obtained to estimate the area of the leaf and the dry weight of the leaf. The equation which gave the best fit (log area of the leaf = -0.133 + 1.095 log blade length + 0.872 log blade width, R2 = 0.996) accounted for 92.5% of the data calculated with a deviation of up to 10% of measured areas. The equations studied to estimate the dry weight of the leaf were inefficient. Alternative equations to estimate leaf weight and area of the leaf based on the natural logarithims of easily taken measurements were evaluated.
Cupuassu; Theobroma grandiflorum; leaf area; leaf dry weight