About: Decurrent

Decurrent (sometimes decurring) is a term used in botany and mycology to describe plant or fungal parts that extend downward. In botany, the term is most often applied to leaf blades that partly wrap or have wings around the stem or petiole and extend down along the stem. A "decurrent branching habit" is a plant form common for shrubs and most angiosperm trees, contrasted with the or "cone-shaped crown" common among many gymnosperms. The decurrent habit is characterized by having weak apical dominance that eventually produces a rounded or spreading tree crown. Examples of trees with decurrent habit are most hardwood trees: oak, hickory, maple, etc.