| Leaves | |
|---|---|
 Symbol fromBavarian pattern | |
| Native names | German:Laub,Blatt,Schippen,Gras orGrün |
| Deck | German-suited playing cards |
| Invented | 15th century |
Leaves (
) (German:Laub) is one of the fourplaying card suits in a deck ofGerman-suited playing cards. This suit was invented in 15th century Germany and is a survivor from a large pool of experimental suit signs created to replace theLatin suits. Around 1480, French card makers adapted this sign intoSpades in theFrench pack (known as pikes in France).[1]
As its name suggests, the leaf is represented by a stylized greenleaf. The left half is lighter than the right half; it can sometimes be yellow.Veins are visible and there is usually apetiole. There may also be smaller leaves.
The standard German-suited system of leaves,acorns,hearts, andbells appears in the majority of cards from 1460 onwards. There is no evidence for this system prior to this point.[1]
They are usually known in German asLaub ("foliage"), but also asGras ("grass"),Blatt ("leaf") or 'Grün ("green"). Cards are referred to as in a French pack e.g. the "King of Leaves", but in German asLaub-König orGrün-König i.e. "Leaf King". It is the second-highest suit in the games ofSkat,Schafkopf andDoppelkopf, and the second lowest inPréférence.
Today the suit of leaves is still produced as part of the following patterns: Bavarian (Types M and S), Bohemian, East German, Franconian, Saxonian and William Tell. The gallery below shows a suit of Leaves from aGerman-suited playing cards of 32 cards. The pack is of the Saxonian pattern:
InSwiss-suited playing cards, the equivalent suit isShields, typically with the following suit symbol:
.[citation needed]
| Standard 36-card German deck |
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| Others | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
