Amino acid L-histidine was introduced to the preparation of zeolitic imidazolate framework ZIF-L with controllable morphologies. Thick leaf-like particles (2-3 pm in length) with a thickness of about 1 gm were prepared, and their crystallinity decreased when less L-histidine was used. The decreased amount of water in the precursor solution resulted in a morphology change from a leaf-like structure to irregular microsized particles. The regulation of ZIF crystal morphology will lead to more versatile applications of ZIFs as functional materials in separation and adsorption.