Q.Is it correct to say that photosynthesis occurs only in leaves of a plant? Besides leaves, what are the other parts that may be capable of carrying out photosynthesis? Justify.

No, it is not correct to say photosynthesis occurs only in the leaves of a plant — it also occurs in other green parts of the plant.

• Photosynthesis fundamentally requires chlorophyll, light and CO2, and it takes place wherever these requirements are met — most prominently in the mesophyll cells of leaves, which contain a very large number of chloroplasts, but not exclusively there.
• Any other part of the plant that is green — meaning it contains chlorophyll-bearing chloroplasts — is, in principle, also capable of carrying out photosynthesis, since the essential requirements (pigment, light exposure, CO2) can be met there too. …

The most obvious answer to where photosynthesis happens is "in the green leaf" or "in the chloroplasts," and this is correct as far as it goes: leaves are indeed where the great majority of a plant's photosynthesis takes place, since their mesophyll cells contain a very large number of chloroplasts, typically aligned along the cell walls so as to receive the optimum quantity of incident light. But the chapter's own notes are explicit that photosynthesis also occurs in other green parts of the plant, not in leaves alone. …

Method 1 — Apply the essential requirements of photosynthesis

1. List what photosynthesis needs: chlorophyll, light, CO2.
2. Recognise leaves are the main site because mesophyll cells are dense with light-optimally-aligned chloroplasts. …