This data set provides carbon (C), nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), and magnesium (Mg) concentrations in green and senesced leaves. Vegetation characteristics reported include species growth habit, leaf area, mass, and mass loss with senescence. The data were compiled from 86 selected studies in 31 countries, and resulted in approximately 1,000 data points for both green and senesced leaves from woody and non-woody vegetation as described in Vergutz et al (2012). The studies were conducted from 1970-2009. There are two comma-delimited data files with this data set.