ANATOMICAL AND MECHANICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF LEAF-SHEATH FIBROVASCULAR BUNDLES IN PALMS

Abstract

This study presents anatomical characteristics, mechanical properties, microfibril angles (MFAs) and Klason lignin contents of leaf-sheath fibrovascular bundles from 14 palm genera (18 species). Observed by light microscopy, all fibrovascular bundles consisted equally of thick-walled sclerenchyma fibers and vascular tissue, while the shape and localization of vascular tissues on the transverse sections varied among species. It was possible to group these fibrovascular bundles into 3 types based on the vascular tissue’s differences: type A – rounded in the central region; type B – angular in the marginal region; and type C – aliform in the central region. These three anatomical types of fibrovascular bundles showed some correlation with a current phylogenetic classification of palm species. Through mechanical tests, this research confirmed the correlation between diameter and mechanical properties of the fibrovascular bundles of palms; tensile strength and Young’s modulus showed a decreasing trend with increasing diameter. We clarified that this trend was due to a marked increase in the proportion of transverse sectional area comprised by vascular tissue with increasing diameter of fibrovascular bundles. The MFAs of fibrovascular bundles ranged from 10.3º to 47.1º, which were generally larger than those of non-woody plants, conifers, and broad-leaved trees. The Klason lignin contents of palm species were also high, ranging from 18.3% to 37.8%, with a mean value of 29.6%. These large MFAs and high lignin contents could lead to the long-term plastic deformation and relatively low tensile strength of palm fibrovascular bundles.