Question

A monocot leaf having reticulate venation is
(A) Dioscorea
(B) Alocasia
(C) Smilax
(D) All of the above

Answer 1

Hint: Reticulate venation is usually related to the dicot plants but there are some exceptions seen in them like Greenbriers, Giant taro, Purple yam, Eddoe, etc. Similarly, parallel venation is related to monocot plants.

Complete step by step answer:
Venation is that the pattern of veins within the blade of a leaf.
A monocot leaf having reticulate venation belongs to the families Smilax, Alocasia, Dioscorea, and Colocasia. It is rarely found in the monocotyledons and occurs only in a few plants.
The veins contain vascular tissues which are important for the transport of food and water. Leaf veins help in connecting the blade to the petiole, and further lead from the petiole to the stem.
The two vascular tissues present in leaf veins are xylem, which is vital for the transport of water and soluble ions into the leaf, and phloem, which is vital for the transport of carbohydrates from the leaf to the remainder of the plant.
The venation pattern of a leaf is assessed as reticulated, parallel, or dichotomous. In reticulate venation, the veins are arranged during a net-like pattern, therein they're all interconnected just like the strands of a net. Reticulate venation is that the commonest venation pattern, and occurs within the leaves of nearly all dicotyledonous.Angiosperms, whose embryos have two cotyledons as in flowering plants like Maple, Oak, and Rose.
In parallel venation, the veins are all smaller in size and parallel or nearly parallel to at least one another, although a series of smaller veins connect the massive veins.
Parallel venation is present in the leaves of nearly all monocotyledonous
This is the rarest venation pattern and occurs within the leaves of some ferns and within the gymnosperm tree, ginkgo.
So, the correct answer is ‘(D) All of the above '.

Note: As exceptions are present in a monocot, exceptions in dicot leaves are also seen in nature. For example, there are exceptions in dicots like Corymbium, Calophyllum, Eryngium, They show parallel venation.