FormaLeaf is a software interface for exploring leaf morphology using parallel string rewriting grammars called L-systems. Scanned images of dicotyledonous angiosperm leaves removed from plants around Bard’s campus are displayed on the left and analyzed using the computer vision library OpenCV. Morphometrical information and terminological labels are reported in a side-panel. “Slider mode” allows the user to control the structural template and growth parameters of the generated L-system leaf displayed on the right. “Vision mode” shows the input and generated leaves as the computer ‘sees’ them. “Search mode” attempts to automatically produce a formally defined graphical representation of the input by evaluating the visual similarity of a generated pool of candidate leaves. The system seeks to derive a possible internal structural configuration for venation based purely off a visual analysis of external shape. The iterations of the generated L-system leaves when viewed in succession appear as a hypothetical development sequence. FormaLeaf was written in Processing
