The areal development of photosynthetic efficiency and growth patterns in expanding leaves of two different dicotyledonous species - Coccoloba uvifera and Sanchezia nobilis - was investigated by imaging both processes repeatedly over 32 days. Measurements were performed using combined imaging systems for chlorophyll fluorescence and growth, with the same spatial resolution. Significant differences in potential quantum yield of photosynthesis (F (v)/F (m)), a parameter indicating the functional status of photosystem II, were found between midvein and interveinal tissue. Although base-tip gradients and spatial patchiness were observed in the distribution of relative growth rate, neither midvein nor interveinal tissue showed such patterns in F (v)/F (m). In young leaves, F (v)/F (m) of the midvein was higher than F (v)/F (m) of interveinal tissue. This difference declined gradually with time, and upon cessation of growth, F (v)/F (m) of interveinal regions exceeded those of midvein tissue. Images of chlorophyll fluorescence quenching showed that DeltaF/F (m)' in the different tissues correlated with F (v)/F (m), indicating that, in these uniformly illuminated leaves, transitions in photosynthetic electron transport activity follow those of predawn quantum efficiency. We explore the implications of these observations during leaf development, discuss effects of sucrose delivery from veins to interveinal areas on relative rates of photosynthetic development in these tissues, and propose that the initially higher photosynthetic activity in the midvein compared to the intervein tissues may supply carbohydrates and energy for leaf growth processes.