Tracheid analysis and modeling of the minor veins of the coleus and smilax leaves

Tracheid analysis was carried out on the veinlets and minor veins of the coleus (Solenostemon scutellarioides [L.] Codd) leaf. Third- to fifth-order, or minor, veins average 3.4 tracheids in tandem and they bipartition islets when these enclosed islets reach a critical size; both these features of vein length and islet size contribute to a self-similar process of vein pattern generation. An areole was calculated to be initially comprised of about ten cells making the patterning event for vein formation requiring only a few cells. An algorithmic model developed here for minor vein formation includes five production rules, and this computer model explains the 3–4 tracheids per minor vein, presence of isolated tracheids, the structure of veinlets, and the elaborate branching patterns of veinlets in coleus and other plants.