Survey on Modeling and Visualization of Plant Leaf Color

Much work has been done on the morphologic modeling and visualization of leaves. Leaf is one of the most important organs of a plant, and so leaf color and texture are not only important external characteristics, but also expressions of the plant´s intrinsic physiology and the growth state, since they have a close relationship with the physiological status. Growth, age, maturity, relative turgidity and the satisfaction of nutritive elements can be reflected by the color and texture. Therefore, there is significance in the modeling and visualization of plant leaf color. This paper attempts to provide a survey of research on the modeling and visualization of plant leaf color, including the physiologic mechanism for the changing of leaf color, simulation of leaf color purely based on computer graphics and the visualization of leaf color based on the physiology mechanism. Some key issues in applications are also discussed. Perspectives for future research are given in the end. This paper is expected to provide a beneficial reference for the research and applications of virtual plants.