MICROMORPHOLOGICAL STUDY ON THE LEAF EPIDERMIS OF Schizostachyum nees FROM VIETNAM

SUMMARY The foliage leaf epidermis of 13 Schizostachyum species from Vietnam was investigated by using scanning electron microscopy. The results indicated that hairs - microhairs commonly seen and consist of three types such as long hairs, geniculate hairs, and spines hairs; the stomata of all species on the lower epidermis are larger, elliptical in shape and arranged in 2 - 5 rows on each side of a vein, each stoma covers finger - like protuberances (papillae) which come forth from the epidermal cells next to the epidermal cells, incline towards the center of stoma. However, the stomata on the lower epidermis covers finger - like protuberances and hairs - microhairs between leaf blades of different species. These characters were of taxonomic significance at the specific species level.