ABSTRACT

Classification of plants has suffered a number of setbacks because of the inexplicit analysis of plant characters used in the delimitation of taxa. The earlier plant classification relied only on the morphological characters without putting anatomy and ecological influences into consideration. This work aimed at utilizing anatomical traits to assess the compatibility or suitability of the nine taxa in the families where they belong. Comparative foliar anatomy of nine tree genera Antiaris toxicaria Lesch. (Moraceae), Ficus exasperata Vahl. (Moraceae), Milicia excelsa Welw. (Moraceae), Dacryodes klaineana Lam. (Burseraceae) Canarium schweinfurthii Engl. (Burseraceae), Dacryodes edulis Lam. (Burseraceae), Erythrophleum suaveolens Taub. (Fabaceae), Pelthophorum pterocarpum De Cand. (Fabaceae) and Pterocarpus soyauxii Taub. (Fabaceae), from various locations in the Southern Nigeria, was studied using five samples of each species randomly collected from their natural regions of provenance. Three genera were selected from each of the three families Moraceae, Burseraceae and Fabaceae. Leaf samples were sectioned with a Reichert (Heidelberg) sledge microtome and conventional clearing methods were followed and finally observed under light Olympus (CHBS) model XSZ-107BN-Japan Biological Microscope on which a Motican camera was attached. Comparison of anatomical parameters showed the hypostomatic leaf types. Variations occurred in Moraceae, Burseraceae and Fabaceae in their epidermal cell. Stomatal types varied. Non-septate trichomes were present in the two taxa of Moraceae but absent in one. In Burseracea, trichomes were present in C. schweinfurthii but absent in the other two taxa. It occurred in only one species in Fabaceae. In the transverse sections of the leaves, different vascular bundle arrangements were observed. E. suaveolens had the highest stomatal number while P. pterocarpum had the least. C. schweinfurthii had the highest number of epidermal cells while F. exasperata had the least. P. pterocarpum had the highest aperture sizes while D. klaineana had the least. Some ecological factors influenced some parameters. The data obtained from the morphological and anatomical parameters were subjected to one way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Duncan’s New Multiple Range Test (DNMRT) to compare their means and for multiple separations of means respectively (P ? 0.05). Keywords: Anatomy, Ecology, Foliar, Variables and Tree genera
Publication date: 01/12/2020

https://ijbpas.com/pdf/2020/December/MS_IJBPAS_2020_5308.pdf

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https://doi.org/10.31032/IJBPAS/2020/9.12.5308