Question

Tripinnate leaves occur in
(a) Acacia
(b) Oxalis
(c) Moringa
(d) Gynandropsis

Answer 1

 Hint: Compound leaves are the leaves that show the presence of many leaflets. These can be either pinnate or palmate. In the pinnate type of compound leaves, the leaflets arise on either side of the midrib and based on the leaflet pattern, they are divided into various pinnations. Tripinnate leaves are present in the drumstick trees.

Complete Step by Step Answer:
The term tripinnate means the pinnately compound leaves in which the leaflets are themselves bipinnate. Such an arrangement of the leaflets in the drumstick trees i.e. Moringa oleifera
- Pinnation is the feather- like or multi- divided arrangement of leaflets on both the sides of a common axis.

- This pinnation can be further classified as:
- Unipinnate: It is the simplest form of pinnation in which a single row of leaflets is arranged on both sides of a common axis.
- Bipinnate: In this kind, the leaflets themselves are pinnately compound.
- Tripinnate: In this type of pinnately compound leaves, the leaflets themselves are bipinnate in the arrangement.
- Tripinnate: The pinnately compound leaves have leaflets that are themselves tripinnate.
So, the correct answer is, ‘(c) Moringa.’

Note:
Another form of classifying the pinnation is:
- Paripinnate: In this form of pinnation, the leaflets are present along the rachis as pairs without a single terminal leaflet. It is also called even- pinnate.
- Imparipinnate: In this type of pinnation, there is a lone terminal leaflet that is present at the tip of the rachis and it is also called odd- pinnate.
- Compound leaves can also be Palmately compound in which the leaflets arise from a common petiole.