Abstract
As micromorphological knowledge was not available for Coix aquatica Roxb., the foliar epidermal studies were carried out for Coix lacryma-jobi L. and Coix aquatica Roxb. with the aim of determining the patterns of variation in their epidermal characteristics and assessing their value in species identification. Comparative foliar analysis was carried out by using light microscopy, after following routine scraping method. The characters of diagnostic importance in the identification of C. aquatica are the sparsely distributed prickle hairs with long pointed apex in the abaxial epidermis and dumbbell shaped silica cells in both the epidermises. The diagnostic characters for C. lacryma-jobi are the cross shaped silica cells and dumbbell shaped on the abaxial and adaxial epidermis respectively. The observed differences in certain micromorphological characters helps in identification of presently studied two species of Coix.
Highlights
The genus Coix belongs to the family Poaceae which comprises of about 900 genera and 10.000 species throughout the world (GPWG, 2001)
Coix is a genus of about 5 species, native to tropical Asia (Clayton and Renvoize, 1999; Watson and Dallwitz, 1992 onwards); commonly known as Job’s tears, Christ’s tears, adlai, Kasai and Kahudo
The grass family Poaceae is known for its wide diversity and complexity and so has posed many problems to the taxonomists using the traditional methods, based on gross morphology and described the leaf epidermis as the second most important character after cytology for solving taxonomic problem (Srivastava, 1978)
Summary
The genus Coix belongs to the family Poaceae which comprises of about 900 genera and 10.000 species throughout the world (GPWG, 2001). Coix is a genus of about 5 species, native to tropical Asia (Clayton and Renvoize, 1999; Watson and Dallwitz, 1992 onwards); commonly known as Job’s tears, Christ’s tears, adlai, Kasai and Kahudo. The grass family Poaceae is known for its wide diversity and complexity and so has posed many problems to the taxonomists using the traditional methods, based on gross morphology and described the leaf epidermis as the second most important character after cytology for solving taxonomic problem (Srivastava, 1978). The immense value of the leaf epidermis and vegetative anatomy in grass systematics has been demonstrated by many workers (Srivastava, 1978; Renvoize, 1982; Ogundipe and Olatunji, 1991). In the present study we have described the patterns of variation in epidermal characteristics, to assess their value in species identification, classification and in establishing the taxonomic relationships between the two species of Coix
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