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Penso che quella pianta tropicale, le cui foglie cadono, sia malata.

Penso che quella pianta tropicale, le cui foglie cadono, sia malata.
I think that that tropical plant, whose leaves are falling, is sick.
From Lesson 294:Relative possessives (il cui, la cui, i cui, le cui)·Italian

Questions & Answers about Penso che quella pianta tropicale, le cui foglie cadono, sia malata.

Why do we use le cui here instead of la cui, since it refers to la pianta?
The article before cui (whose) always agrees with the thing being possessed, not the possessor. Because it is 'whose leaves' and leaves (le foglie) is feminine plural, you must use le cui.
Why is the verb sia used at the end instead of è?
The sentence starts with Penso che (I think that), which expresses a personal opinion. This triggers the subjunctive mood, so we use sia (the subjunctive form of essere) rather than the regular present tense è.
Why is malata feminine singular when the closest noun before it is the plural foglie?
malata (sick) describes the plant (quella pianta tropicale), not the leaves. Even though the 'whose' clause (le cui foglie cadono) interrupts the sentence, the adjective must still agree with the feminine singular subject it belongs to.
Can I move the 'whose' clause to the end, like Penso che quella pianta tropicale sia malata, le cui foglie cadono?
No, in Italian, the relative clause must be placed directly after the noun it describes (quella pianta tropicale). If you moved it to the end, it would grammatically suggest that the sickness itself has falling leaves!

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