Master Gardener Practice Exam

Distinguishing simple from compound leaves hinges on how the blade is arranged on the stem. A simple leaf is a single blade attached by its own petiole to the stem. A compound leaf is made up of multiple leaflets that share a single petiole or rachis, with a single bud at the base where that leaf attaches to the stem. Color changes or differences in hue are not reliable indicators of whether a leaf is simple or compound, since leaf color can vary with light, age, nutrition, or disease. In practice, look for the structure: count the leaflets and trace from the base. If you follow one stalk and find several leaflets attached to one common stalk, that’s a compound leaf. If there’s just one blade with its own base, that’s a simple leaf. This structural check is the most direct way to tell the two apart.