Caricaceae is a small family whose species are, with the exception of two West African ones, entirely neotropical. Formerly a genus, later only a section within the genus Carica and recently again rehabilitated as a genus, the genus Vasconcellea is today the largest of the six genera described. The aim of the study was to make a detailed morphological description of Vasconcellea in Ecuador, emphasising vegetative characters (micro- and macrovenation & leaf shape, also called the leaf architecture) to make possible identification during vegetative stage. The cooperation with the Department of Molecular Biotechnology (Ghent University), were the genetic diversity within the genus is being analysed using AFLP and PCR-RFLP, should result in a reliable analysis and description of the taxa. As the literature concerning leaf architecture appeared to be scarce and complex this study also turns out to be a manual for future scientist working on leaf architecture.