Evaluation of Morphological and Anatomical Features of Iranian Galanthus transcaucasicus

Galanthus transcaucasicus is still unknown species whose highest distribution is in southern regions of the Caspian Sea in Iran. No precise study has not been done on Galanthus transcaucasicus in the literature so far. This study aimed to collect and introduce the morphological and anatomical characters of endemic Galanthus transcaucasicus in detail. 50 Galanthus transcaucasicus accessions belonging to 5 populations (Randomly ten plants from each population) were collected from four provinces, including Mazandaran, Gilan, Golestan, and Ardabil of Iran. In total, 12 morphological and ten anatomical parameters were measured. The largest size of flowers was found for K7 from Khalkhal population with (24.22 and 11.43 mm for outer perianth-segments length and width) and (14.26 and 8.68 mm for inner perianth-segments length and width). Anatomical analysis showed that the cells on the lower (abaxial) epidermis were spherical and short, but on the upper (adaxial) epidermis were oblong and strongly elongated. Stomata were occurred on both the adaxial and abaxial surface of leaves (amphistomatous leaves, but on the upper surface, they were located around the central vein. The number of stomata on the upper surface was less (ranging from 0.37 μm to 0.6 μm per mm2). Anatomically, there is a significant difference between populations from different regions. Maximum leaf thickness was found in the Gorgan population (775 μm).

Evaluation of Morphological and Anatomical Features of Iranian Galanthus transcaucasicus Keywords:

Snowdrop accessions , stomata , Guard cell , Leaf thickness , Cluster Analysis