Comparative Study between some Species of Cassia and Senna from Fabaceae Family Using Leaf Epidermal Characters

Abstract

The important taxonomic significance was obtained from this study helped to comparative species under the two genera Cassia and Senna grown in Iraq. The aim was to confirm some useful diagnostic features that may be used in comparison between the two genera. Our results detect important features that are helpful in the identification of each species. These include presence of stomata only in the lower surface of the leaves in the species of Cassia and in the species S. singueana in addition presence the Paracytic type pattern in it and differed from the rest species of Senna, so in the results of the current study was treated with this species as one of the types of Cassia depending on the old classification, so the species of two genus appeared differ in the shape of anticlinal walls of the ordinary epidermal cells, also found that the genus S. artemisioides was unique in the presence Actinocytic stomata pattern on the upper and lower surfaces, this feature considered an important to distinguishing it from the rest of the species, in addition this pattern absence in the species of Cassia and which helps to differentiate between the two genus under studies. The hairs in both genus species which Unicellular uniseriate type and from many sections of plants species collected from Iraq we not found multicellular hairs in the species under study.

Keywords: Cassia, Senna, Epidermal features, Stomata pattern, Hairs.