.

Authors

  • Letícia Larcher Laboratório de Anatomia Ecológica, Departamento de Botânica Setor de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal do Paraná Caixa Postal 19031, CEP 81.531.990 Curitiba, Paraná.
  • Maria Regina T. Boeger Laboratório de Anatomia Ecológica, Departamento de Botânica Setor de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal do Paraná Caixa Postal 19031, CEP 81.531.990 Curitiba, Paraná.

Abstract

Leaf anatomy of Odontonema strictum (Nees) O. Kuntze (Acanthaceae). This study investigated the leaf anatomy of Odontonema strictum (Nees) O. Kuntze (Acanthaceae), with emphasis on cystoliths, which are very
abundant in this species. Leaves fully expanded from five mature indivi- duals were collected in the teaching garden of the “Setor de Ciências Biológicas” (UFPR) and fixed in FAA 70. The cystoliths were located in the
epidermal cells of the adaxial face (litocysths) and also among the collenchyma cells of the midrib and petiole. The cystoliths were cylindrical, long, with several small projections. They sometimes occurred in pairs and varied greatly in size, with an average length of 163.4±68.8 ?m and a density of 23±9.97 cystoliths.mm-2 (n=10). The foliar lamina presented a uniseriate epidermis, dorsiventral mesophyll, and palisade parenchyma, which was continuous along the lamina. In the midrib, arc-shaped vascular veins were surrounded by fundamental parenchyma. Glandular trichomes occurred on both faces of the leaf, while non-glandular trichomes and diacytic stomata were present only on the abaxial face. The great number and size of the cystoliths observed could be related to defenses against herbivory and to mechanisms of removal of excess calcium absorbed from the soil.

Author Biographies

Letícia Larcher, Laboratório de Anatomia Ecológica, Departamento de Botânica Setor de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal do Paraná Caixa Postal 19031, CEP 81.531.990 Curitiba, Paraná.

Laboratório de Anatomia Ecológica, Departamento de Botânica Setor de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal do Paraná Caixa Postal 19031, CEP 81.531.990 Curitiba, Paraná.

Maria Regina T. Boeger, Laboratório de Anatomia Ecológica, Departamento de Botânica Setor de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal do Paraná Caixa Postal 19031, CEP 81.531.990 Curitiba, Paraná.

Laboratório de Anatomia Ecológica, Departamento de Botânica Setor de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal do Paraná Caixa Postal 19031, CEP 81.531.990 Curitiba, Paraná.

Downloads

Published

2006-01-01

Issue

Vol. 19 No. 4 (2006)

Section

Artigos

License

Copyright (c) 2006 Letícia Larcher, Maria Regina T. Boeger

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

After the electronic publication of the manuscript, the authors are entitled, without any restriction, on its contents.

License Creative Commons Atribuição 4.0 Internacional - CC BY

 Licença Creative Commons

Authors are able to take on additional contracts separately, non-exclusive distribution of the version of the paper published in this journal (ex.: publish in institutional repository or as a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal.