MICROSTRUCTURAL CHARACERISTICS OF RHODODENDRON PONTICUM L. LEAVES.

The microstructural characteristics of the leaf of Rhododendron ponticum L., an alternative source of biologically active compounds - constituents of the antiherpetic ointment Rhodopes, were studied. The study resulted in the establishment of the sustainable diagnostic characteristics of Rh. ponticum L. leaf. The leaf is naked, double-sided, hypostomatic, with dorsoventral structure of mesophyll; the conductive system represents a vascular fibrous, reverse collateral structure. Druze crystals of calcium oxalate are found in the pulp of the leaf. The underlying cells of the adiaxial and abaxial leaf epidermis are uneven, oblong and curved. The robustness of the main vascular bundle is determined by increased amount of mechanical cells - collenchyma, layer of sclerenchyma cells and xylem fibers. In the phloem, differentiation of secretory channels is visible; the lumen of the wood conducting vessels is rounded, with a spirally thickened inner shell; radial rays are short, single-layered.