Morpho-anatomical adaptations of Argylia radiata (L.) D. Don to an arid environment

Abstract

Argylia radiata is an herbaceous perennial with substantial potential as an ornamental plant. This is a native plant from the Atacama Desert, it can be found in the north of Chile and the south of Peru. This species is part of the "Flowering Desert", which is an unpredictable phenomenon, associated with unusual winter rainfalls that allow the massive blooming of the Chilean Desert. While most plants in family Bignoniaceae are originally from tropical and subtropical areas, A. radiata lives in very harsh conditions, with average precipitation of around 12 mm per year, a maximum of 34 °C in summer, and a minimum of 2 °C in winter. This extreme habitat makes this species an interesting option to study for its morphological and anatomical adaptations, which have not been described in depth. In this work, optical and scanning electron microscopy of histological samples from different structures were used to describe the plant and to try to understand how A. radiata survives in the driest desert in the world.