A LEAF is the FLAT PORTION OF WOOD from trees, and while appearing different from the trunk or branches, leaves are composed of the same basic building blocks. A TABLE LEAF is therefore so named, an extension of the main wooden structure. A PAGE of a bound book (not the old skin scrolls) is also made from wood that has been mashed into fibers and treated to become a paper PAGE IN BINDING.「Many, many turning emissions」as the pages are individually read and turned, as do leaves (not 'loose-leaf' which is another term for unbound paper pages).
　Sick woodies were also treated by「clapping」the shaft between flat pieces of wood similar to a TABLE LEAF in order to attempt to squeeze out the accumulated gleet and pus from within the urethra, hence gonorrhea become known as 'the clap.' See related glyphs 枽 and 桒. In the process, naturally the woody itself was flattened, FLAT WOOD.
　「Generation after generation, year after year」of「tree, green turning emissions」that suggest autumn LEAVES dropping from trees after deciduous frondescence year after year, and drops falling from a woody, the seeds left causing new generations. Oldest elements of「three tens」(桒) literally「many, many needles」that are also leaves: prickly needles of coniferous trees are also LEAVES performing photosynthesis, or「many, many rotations, screwings」of something to generate a family tree,「generations」with「woody, plant」as fallen leaves fluttering and as seeds falling that were generated during the growing season. Each year a new「generation of trees」can get started, made possible only because a plant has LEAVES creating sugars from the Sun's energy that keep it alive, with the new generation of saplings sprouting from seeds the tree disperses, often among fallen leaves from generations past.
　Further, what a tree leaves as a remainder after being cut and dying, then processed by humans, are wooden planks.「Many, many pieces of wood」as flat planks are also in on tree, later used as TABLE EXTENSIONS, TABLE LEAF. These same smooth, flat planks of wood were also more comfortable to lie upon than the cold, rock bumpy floor of a cavern, hence were used as the first beds, biers, and to facilitate「generations of woody, screwing emissions」while sowing one's seeds. See 疌 as a replacement when used as an element.
　In some traditional fonts, the lower element is「hemp」i.e., the LEAVES. Note that each individual leaf of a hemp plant itself appears to have「many, many leaves」due to its branched structure, sometimes with as many as 13 serrate leaflets per leaf, causing the entire mature plant to appear as if it is covered with「many, many」LEAVES. As the hemp plant matures, the leaves drop off and flutter to the ground, beginning with the lowest first.

Modern definitions (that generally disregard history) …excluding politically incorrect concepts and other meanings deemed offensive today; may list only pigeonholed definitions, euphemisms, or meaningless mnemonics)
Unihan extended: a table, flat pieces of wood, a slip, a leaf
EDRDG: table; flat pieces of wood; slip; leaf