# 0988. Smallest String Starting From Leaf

https://leetcode.com/problems/smallest-string-starting-from-leaf

## Description

You are given the `root` of a binary tree where each node has a value in the range `[0, 25]` representing the letters `'a'` to `'z'`.

Return _the **lexicographically smallest** string that starts at a leaf of this tree and ends at the root_.

As a reminder, any shorter prefix of a string is **lexicographically smaller**.

* For example, `"ab"` is lexicographically smaller than `"aba"`.

A leaf of a node is a node that has no children.

**Example 1:**

![](https://assets.leetcode.com/uploads/2019/01/30/tree1.png)

```
**Input:** root = [0,1,2,3,4,3,4]
**Output:** "dba"
```

**Example 2:**

![](https://assets.leetcode.com/uploads/2019/01/30/tree2.png)

```
**Input:** root = [25,1,3,1,3,0,2]
**Output:** "adz"
```

**Example 3:**

![](https://assets.leetcode.com/uploads/2019/02/01/tree3.png)

```
**Input:** root = [2,2,1,null,1,0,null,0]
**Output:** "abc"
```

**Constraints:**

* The number of nodes in the tree is in the range `[1, 8500]`.
* `0 <= Node.val <= 25`

## ac

```java
```
