Pokemon leaves won't appear

Initially, the leaves were used as a way to identify a possible Pokémon location - that is, an identifier to indicate where you might encounter a Pokémon.

This has since been removed in the last few updates. (Prior to 0.33.0 on Android)

The explanation as to why however, is lacking, so speculation abounds.

• It is likely that since the changes to the "Nearby" tracking system have been implemented, this identifier is no longer relevant.
• It is also possible that this was fairly useless to most users anyway, as there have been many reports all over the internet that this feature reaped no rewards.
• Since there has been no proof to say exactly what this was for, it is entirely possible that this was purely aesthetic, and the user speculation created a theory about how it had some sort of in-game function. In this case, I don't see why Niantic would leave it in game if it was creating nothing but confusion and frustration in the user population.