SYSTEMATİC SİGNİFİCANCE OF FOLİAR EPİDERMAL CHARACTERS İN FİVE SPECİES OF EREMOGONE FENZL (CARYOPHYLLACEAE)

Abstract

The aim of the present work is to provide an account on the foliar epidermal morphological features of  Eremogone species in Turkey, as a contribution to future research. Foliar epidermal morphology of five species of the Eremogone were investigated using Light Microscope (LM). Different morphological features including; epidermal cell shape, epidermal cell wall shape, size of epidermal cell, size of stomata and size of trichome were observed.

The study revealed that the foliar epidermal morphology of the studied Eremogone species were in all cases diacytic and amphistomatic. The epidermal cell edges of Eremogone taxa with longitudinal cells are straight. Eremogone acerosa, Eremogone acutisepala, Eremogone ledebouriana characterized by unicellular trichomes, but these are not observed in other taxa of genus Eremogone. In all species, the stomatal density of the lower epidermis is higher than that of the upper epidermis. Our results indicate that the micro-morphology of foliar epidermal morphological characters can be utilized in the identification of taxa at the species level.