Comparative Leaf Epidermal Studies on Solanum macrocarpon and Solanum nigrum

Abstract

The comparative leaf epidermal studies on Solanum macrocarpon and Solanum nigrum showed that the upper and the lower epidermal cell wall of S. nigrum varied in shape from pentagonal, rectangular to hexagonal while the upper and the lower epidermal cell wall of S. macrocarpon are irregular in shape. Although both taxa are amphistomatic but stomata are more abundant at the lower leaf surfaces than the upper leaf surfaces. Both stomata are anomocytic with stomatal index ranging from 5.70%-33.02% in S. nigrum and 10.14%-32.35% in S. macrocarpon. These observations are important especially as they help to establish interspecie relationships among the two investigated taxa and hence suggest reasons for the two taxa to be in the same genus. (Nature and Science. 2007;5(3):1-4).