Mehrdokht Najafpour Navaei - Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Tehran, Iran
Bahareh Alahverdi - Faculty of Natural Sciences of Tabriz University, Tabriz, Iran

Zataria multiflora Boiss. is  one of the most important species of the Lamiaceae family, which has numerous medicinal properties in traditional medicine, and is related to the thyme species in terms of botanical features and composition of essential oil. In this research, the anatomical characteristics of vegetative organs including leaves, inflorescence, stems and petioles of ۴ populations of shirazian thyme have been collected from different areas of Iran and were investigated and compared. Methods include making hand-cuts and observations with an optical microscope. The results of this study showed that there is a similarity to the characteristics of theinflorescence, stem, leaf and petiole in the populations of shirazian thyme. In terms of stem and leaf diameter, the thickness of the cork and xylem, frequency and type of non-glandular trichomes and glandular trichomes there are differences between the studied populations.  The results indicate that the study of anatomical characters is an appropriate method for identification of populations of a species and the role of ecological factors on the development of the internal structures of plants could be studied too.

Sh, Anatomy, Vegetativirazian thymee organs, Glandular trichome