When measuring photosynthetic rates of trees, common practice is to examine the youngest and fully expanded leaves due to their physiological maturity. However, the validity of this practice remains to be verified. This study investigated leaf-growth characteristics of tree species with varying shade tolerance, and measured the photosynthetic rates of fully expanded-leaves at different positions along the branch in four seasons. The objective was to understand which fully expanded-leaves on the branches had reached their maximum light-saturated photosynthetic rate (Amax). Findings revealed that the shade-intolerant species, Broussonetia papyrifera and Premna serratifolia exhibited higher leaf production rates, shorter leaf lifespans, and reached Amax at a younger age. These 2 species and the deciduous species Margaritaria indica produced an average of 7 to 10 leaves on a single branch per month during the peak growing period and their Amax‘s was reached in 3 to 5 week old leaves in summer. On the other hand, the shade-tolerant species, Michelia compressa var. formosana, Heritiera littoralis, Gelonium aequoreum and Drypetes littoralis had lower leaf production rates, producing 1 to 3 new leaves per branch per month.Notably, M. compressa and D. littoralis did not produce new leaves in some months. In summer, M. compressa leaves reached Amax in 7 weeks, and H. littoralis, G. aequoreum and D. littoralisleaves reached Amax in about 3 months. In each species, leaves reaching the highest Amax were positioned differently on the branch among the 10 tested branches during the same measuring month. The position of leaves reaching the highest Amax on the branch of the same species varied in different seasons. The leaves reaching Amax were primarily the 2nd to the 5th youngest fully expanded-leaves for the six evergreen species, while they were the 4th to the 7th youngest leaves for the deciduous M. indica. Comparing seasonally, during seasons with high leaf production rates, the average leaf positions reaching Amax were located farther along the branch for B. papyrifera, Premna serratifolia, and M. indica. For the other 4 shade-tolerant species, leaf positions reaching Amax were also located farther along the branch during seasons reaching Amax with a longer leaf age. In light of these observations, we recommend that researchers use fully expanded leaves located in the front 1/5 portion of branches for shade-intolerant species, and those in the front 1/3 portion of branches for shade-tolerant species when taking photosynthetic measurements.