A previous study of 19 south-east Australian heath and forest species with a range of leaf textures showed that they varied considerably in leaf biomechanical properties. By using an index of sclerophylly derived from botanists' rankings (botanists' sclerophylly index, BSI) we determined that leaves considered by botanists to be sclerophyllous generally had both high strength and work to fracture (particularly in punching and tearing tests), both at the level of leaf and per unit leaf thickness. In the current study we have shown that leaves from the same species also varied considerably in leaf specific mass (46–251 g m-2), neutral detergent fibre concentration (20–59% on a dry weight basis) and in leaf anatomy. Multiple regression indicated a very strong correlation between BSI and the first two components of a principal components analysis (PCA) of leaf anatomy (R 2 = 0.91). In addition, there was strong correlation between the first component of a PCA of the mechanical properties (correlated ...