While having your fruits dispersed by critters is often part of plants’ reproductive strat
While having your fruits dispersed by critters is often part of plants’ reproductive strategy, they rarely benefit from losing leaves to herbivory. So if you were a plant, you’d want to research the cost/benefits for different strategies, and consider investing in a decent anti-herbivory portfolio. You could produce secondary metabolites that taste terrible or are toxic. You could grow a bunch of thorns, spines, or trichomes. Or you could just make yourself look too sketchy for visually discerning herbivores to eat. Leaf variegation occurs variably in Virginia waterleaf plants (Fig. 1: an attractive example), and when it does occur, it’s only seen on early-season leaves. A 2008 study on the anti-herbivory impact of variegation in waterleaf plants found that plain leaves sustained twice the herbivory damage as speckled leaves.* Variegation can mimic the look of unhealthy leaves, and can also camouflage the leaf in dappled light conditions of spring. It’s also just kind of a great look, aesthetically? Virginia waterleaf doesn’t feel the need to sacrifice style OR practicality and YES it did wake up like this. *Campitelli, Stehlik, and Stinchcombe. 2008. Leaf variegation is associated with reduced herbivore damage in Hydrophyllum virginianum. Botany 86: 306-313. -- source link