A comparative anatomical study of Silene latifolia (Caryophyllaceae) in Iran

Silene sect. Melandriformes (Caryophyllaceae) is represented by 2 species (Silene latifolia and S. noctiflora)in Iran that mostly grows in northern, western and central areas of the country. According to Flora Iranica 3 subspecies (subsp. alba, subsp. persica and subsp. eriocalycina) of S. latifolia naturally distributes in Iran. In the present research, anatomical features of stem and leaf of herbarium specimens of 6 populations of S. latifolia were studied. The samples were fixed in Acid-Alcohol fixative (1-3) and stained by Carmine and methylene green. Suitable micrographs were provided by using a light microscope equipped with a digital camera. In this research, the variation of 27 quantitative and qualitative anatomical features of leaf and 24 quantitative and qualitative anatomical features of the stem were studied. The populations studied have been distinguished based on; The type of hair, the dimension and edge shape of palisade cells, the number of palisade tissue layers, the dimension of spongy parenchyma cells and the width of sclerenchyma tissue in leaf. In the other hand, the populations studied shows variation in some anatomical features of stem such as the place of crystal, the width of sclerenchyma tissue and cortex, the arrangement and the number of the vascular bundles

Keywords:

Leaf , Stem , Subspecies , Anatomical features , Silene latifolia