Leaf tissue damaging to seedlings can limit their subsequent growth, and the effects may be more extensive. Compensatory photosynthesis responses of the remnant cotyledon and primary leaf of Pharbitis purpurea to clipping and the effect of clipping on seedling growth were evaluated in a pot-cultivated experiment. Three treatments were conducted in the experiment, which were clipped cotyledon (CC), clipped second leaf (CL), and control group (CG). The area, thickness, mass, and longevity of the remaining cotyledon of CC exhibited over-compensatory growth. In contrast, seedlings of CC had under-compensatory growth in seedling height, root length, seedling mass, and root to shoot ratio. However, the traits of remnant cotyledon and seedling in CL treatment exhibited equal-compensatory growth. Net photosynthetic rate of the cotyledon of CC was significantly higher than those of CL and CG treatments, and the diurnal changes in photosynthetic rates showed significantly different patterns which were unimodal curve (CC) and bimodal curve (CL and CG), respectively. There was no significant difference between CL and CG treatment. Net photosynthetic rate of the primary leaf of CL was significantly higher than that of CG treatment. However, the photosynthetic rates of primary leaves of CL and CG treatments showed similar photosynthetic patterns characterized by a bimodal curve. P. purpurea seedlings used a compensatory growth strategy in the remaining cotyledon or the primary leaf to resist leaf loss and minimize any adverse effects.

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