Anatomical Adaptations of Some Egyptian Xerophytes PDF

Keywords

xerophytic species, palisade tissue, leaves

Abstract

The anatomical characteristics of leaves of seven xerophytic species namely: Artemisia monosperma, Zilla spinosa, Farsetia aegyptia, Launaea spinosa, Zygophyllum coccineum, Panicum turgidum, and Lasiurus hirsutus are described. Artemisia monosperma, Zilla spinosa and Farsetia aegyptia develop multilayered palisade tissue on both sides of their leaves with compact cells and narrow intercellular spaces. The leaves of Zygophyllum coccineum show large, highly vacuolated, water-storage cells lacking chloroplasts in addition to the photosynthetic mesophyll. Panicum turgidum, Larsiurus hirsutus, Zilla spinosa and Farsetia aegyptia show slightly sunken stomata, whilst in Launaea spinosa and Artemisia monosperma stomata are deeply sunken.