Leaf epidermal anatomy of Ipomoea carnea Jacq sampled from selected areas in Gombe State, Nigeria

Abstract

Leaf epidermal microscopy of Ipomoea carnea Jacq was studied to investigate the structure of the stomata and epidermal features which may be used for delimitation of the specie. Fresh leaves of Ipomoea carnea were obtained from five different LGA,S (Gombe, Y/deba, Balanga, Funakaye and Dukku ) in Gombe State, Nigeria. The specimens were studied under light microscope to examine the Stomatal features, Epidermal cell shapes and Anticlinal cell-wall patterns. It had the presence of amphistomatic leaves; one type of Stomatal complex type namely Cyclocytic. Accession 1 had the highest Stomatal Density (40.00 ± 1.00mm²) with lowest Stomatal size (51.13±7.47µm) on the Abaxial leaf surfaces while Accession 2 possessed lowest Stomatal density (23.40±7.67mm²) with highest Stomatal Size (88.68±1.95mm²) on the Adaxial leaf surfaces. Curved anticlinal cell wall patterns with polygonal epidermal cell shapes were also observed. It was concluded that the presence of Cylocytic type of stomata, with large stomatal sizes greatly helped in the delimitation of the plant and could also be used for classification /identification of the plant and some of the features such as trichomes could also be used for adaptation purposes.

Keywords: Epidermal, Stomata, Ipomoea carnea, Cyclocytic, Trichomes