Two words pinpoint aspects of a leaf’s anatomy:
葉脈 (yōmyaku: veins of a leaf) leaf + vein
葉裏 (haura: underside of a leaf) leaf + rear
A few “leaf” words reference particular trees and plants:
葉桜 (hazakura: cherry tree in leaf) leaf + cherry
A typical Japanese interest—no surprises here.
桐一葉 (kiri hitoha: falling paulownia leaf: a sign of the arrival of autumn or of the beginning of the end) paulownia + one + leaf
“The beginning of the end,” as Spahn puts it? A falling paulownia leaf signifies the apocalypse?! Or does the falling leaf merely mean that summer is on its way out? Breen reassures us that that’s the case. Whew! Now the only concern is, what’s a paulownia?!
四つ葉 (yotsuba: plant having four leaves on one stalk)
four + leafThis definition sounds obsessive, until one considers the way many people value four-leaf clovers. (Bored right-fielders take a special interest in searching for them … or was I the only one?) Here’s how the Japanese say “four-leaf clover”:
四つ葉のクローバー (yotsuba no kurōbā: four-leaf clover)
Finally, there’s a compound for a specific kind of forest:
照葉樹林 (shōyōjurin: evergreen (glossy-leafed) forest)
to shine + leaf + timber + forestThis breakdown surprises me. I think of pine trees as having a matte finish, in contrast to, say, magnolias. And yet evergreens must have seemed shiny to the person who coined this compound.
