Going a step further if the plant also has a grey downy appearance, or hair upon its leaves this also tells us that the plant comes from a harsh environment commonly of a gustier nature and the hair is used by the plant to trap moisture again to aid with water loss. 

Ornamental grasses are another example of a plant with very small thin leaves that grow in dry arid conditions. 

Plants that have very large leaves use them to absorb large amounts of light so would usually come from areas where there is a greater amount of sunlight and moisture available to them.

However, a plant that has large leaves but are of a very dark green glossy nature will tolerate a lot of shade as this is their natural setting, with their leaves trying to extract as much sunlight as possible.

Any plants that have glossy darker green leaves are all more tolerant of a shady environment where light levels are lower.

A little off shoot here, be mindful that plants that have an amount of variegation within the leaf will always need more sun light to grow healthy as their chlorophyll levels are a lot lower due to the variegation.

So armed with this information next time you are looking for inspiration as to what to plant in the garden, maybe in an area that suffers from colder windier or drier conditions take a look at the plants leaves and they can give you a few clues and pointers as to what will thrive there.