Leaf Epidermal Studies in Four Species of Euphorbia (Euphorbiaceae)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33003/fjs-2026-1022-6170Keywords:
Euphorbiaceae, Stomatal type, Leaf epidermal, Anticlinal cell wall, Taxonomic significanceAbstract
Leaf epidermal morphology of four plant species belonging to the Euphorbiaceae family was studied: Euphorbia heterophylla L., E. hirta L., E. hyssopifolia L. and E. prostrata Aiton. The study revealed several interesting characters such as an anticlinal cell wall pattern (ACWP), epidermal cell wall shape (ECWS), epidermal cell size (ECS), stomatal complex type (SCT), frequency of stomatal complex types (FSCT), stomatal density (SD), stomatal size (SS), stomatal index (SI) and trichomes are constant and variable within and between the species. There are some relationships between the four species. For instance, leaves are hypostomatic in all species; SCT is anisocytic in three species except one, E. hyssopifolia and 100% occurrence of one type of SCT; the ACWPs are of different types; they are straight, curved, round and undulate in the species studied. The ECWS were found to be polygonal and irregular but in E. heterophylla the shapes are isodiametric. The above leaf features are thus of great taxonomic significance in understanding the relationship between and within species of the familyReferences
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Copyright (c) 2026 Sunday Adeniran, Abdullahi Abdulrahaman, Tinuola Abimbola Aluko, Saheed Kolawole, Abdulquadri Sagaya, Tayo Oyebamiji
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