The 2- to 5-inch-long leaves are, unlike most legumes, simple-not compound. The leaves are alternate, broadly heart-shaped with 1- to 2-inch-long petioles and have a papery texture and entire margins. The petiole has a conspicuous swelling near the leaf base and 5 to 9 radiating veins fan out across the leaf surface. The leaf color usually changes from a dark, lustrous green to a light yellow-green in the fall.
