A comparative foliar epidermal micromorphology of 5 species of Bauhinia L. belonging to family Leguminosae (Fabaceae) was conducted with a view to elucidating their taxonomic significance and presenting complementary data to aid in the identification of the species. | Turkish Journal of Botany Research Article Turk J Bot (2013) 37: 276-281 © TÜBİTAK doi: Comparative foliar micromorphological studies of some Bauhinia (Leguminosae) species Susy ALBERT*, Bhavna SHARMA Department of Botany, Faculty of Science, The MS University of Baroda, Vadodara 390 002, Gujarat, India Received: Accepted: Published Online: Printed: Abstract: A comparative foliar epidermal micromorphology of 5 species of Bauhinia L. belonging to family Leguminosae (Fabaceae) was conducted with a view to elucidating their taxonomic significance and presenting complementary data to aid in the identification of the species. The epidermal cells in all species were polygonal with straight walls except in B. tomentosa L., which had an undulating outline. The stoma types were mainly anisocytic, anomocytic, and paracytic. Among the 5 species, B. blakeana L. was hypostomatic with anisocytic and paracytic stomata. Stomatal indices, frequencies, and sizes were determined. The frequency of stomata differed markedly between different species, with the highest frequency in B. malabarica L. and the lowest in B. tomentosa L. Trichomes were either unicellular or multicellular or both. B. malabarica L. can be identified by its unicellular hooked trichome. Based on the characteristic features, a diagnostic key for identification of the studied species was prepared. Key words: Bauhinia, epidermal characters, stomata, trichomes 1. Introduction The importance of micromorphological features for the taxonomic consideration of Angiosperms is now well established (Ramayya, 1972; Tomlinson, 1979; Ogundipe & Akinrinlade, 1998; Parveen et al., 2000). Micromorphological parameters of different plant parts have been used as aids in the taxonomical recognition of species (Kathiresan et al., 2011). The foliar epidermis is one of the most noteworthy taxonomic characters from a biosystematic
