There exist three different kinds of leaf arrangement in neotropical species of Rinorea. 1. an alternate leaf arrangement consisting of only laminar leaves; 2. an alternate leaf arrangement consisting of laminar leaves in the apical part of the branchlets and scale-like ones subpersistent in the basal part; 3. an apparently opposite leaf arrangement consisting of laminar leaves together with a pair of inconspicuous and soon deciduous scale-like leaves at the base of the inflorescences. In this article hypotheses have been constructed how one kind of leaf arrangement can be derived from the other, how these three different kinds of leaf arrangements can be correlated with the arrangements of the inflorescences and those of the branchlets, and finally how an apparently opposite leaf arrangement also can be correlated with a so called Fagerlind tree model.