merging diffrent parts of a vector into one shape

Hi,
I have an eps file im working on with pohutawa flower and leaves. the leaves all intersect with each other. I would like to be able to join them all as one shape rather than have cutlines through parts I wish to keep whole. In illustrator I can just group all the different parts and press merge and it gets rid of all the lines in between.
How do I do this in inkscape?
Thankyou
Shar