The allometry of leaf form in early plant ontogeny

A general allometric model between metabolic rate and body size has been derived for early plant ontogeny. The scaling exponent is ( 2 + N / 6 ) / 3 , where N is the cell’s degree of freedom of motion. For early plant ontogeny N = 2 , our prediction agrees well with Sack et al.’s observation [Sack, L., Maranon, T., Grubb, P.J., 2002. Science 295, 1923].