A Study on Micromorphological Characters of Leaf Epidermis of Neottianthe in China

Micromorphological characters of leaf epidermis of 12 species of Neottianthe Schltr. in China were examined by LM and SEM. It is found that the cells of both upper and lower epidermis are tetragonal, pentagonal and hexagonal, anticlinal walls are straight and arched; upper and lower epidermis are covered with cuticular membrance; stomatal apparatuses occur only on the lower surface and have just two guard cells without any accessory cells, there are “T” rod-like pieces at the polar region of guard cells; outer stomatal ledge(or rim) are all unilayered. These characters are generally stable at genus level. Therefore the present authors tend to agree with Lang’s (1997) view which 12 species combined Neottianthe. But it shows greatly diversity under LM and SEM that the size of epidermal cells, the inner margin of outer stomatal ledge and the cuticular ornamentaion. Besides, the anticlinal walls of epidermal cells in some species are significant protrusion. These different micromorphological characters of leaf epidermis are usefull to identify some species in the genus Neottianthe .