Ecological anatomy of Eugenia punicifolia (Kunth) DC. (MYRTACEAE) in the restinga region,state of Ceará

Abstract

The species Eugenia punicifolia (Kunth) DC. (myrtle) occurs in the coastal region of the state of Ceará and has ecological and medicinal importance. This study aimed to characterize the leaf anatomy of myrtle (E. punicifolia) in the rainy and dry seasons, as well as in the sun and shade in the restinga region of the state of Ceará and to contribute to the understanding of the morphoanatomic variations in response to the natural conditions of the occurrence of this species. For this, collections of fully expanded leaves were performed at the Botanical Park of Ceará and fixed in FAA70, being replaced by 70% ethanol after 24 hours. The usual anatomical procedures were then performed in order to qualitatively and quantitatively analyze the leaf blade, petiole and epidermis structures. As a result, it was found that myrtle has xeromorphic characteristics such as thick cuticle, hypoestomatic leaf and sclerenchyma fibers in the median vein vascular bundles. It was concluded that E. punicifolia has great plasticity to adjust well under the analyzed conditions.

Environmental Influence on the Leaf Morphoanatomical Characteristics of Myrcia splendens (Sw.) DC. (Myrtaceae)

“…Myrcia splendens (Sw.) DC. the epidermis is unistratified with markedly sinuous and anticlinal walls were similarly found in other species of Myrtaceae (Retamales & Scharaschkin, 2015) like those found in the genus Eugenia (Lemos et al, 2018;Lemos et al, 2019) and Myrciaria (Pacheco-Silva & Donato, 2016). Among the epidermal cells are found the cap cells, cellular structures that cover the subepidermal secretory cavities (Ciccarelli, Pagni, & Andreucci, 2003;Costa et al, 2020).…”

“…In Myrcia splendens (Sw.) DC. cross sections, the epidermis on both sides is composed of a layer and flattened cells as reported in other Myrtaceae species (Arruda & Victório, 2011;Lemos et al, 2019). The mesophyll of Myrcia splendens (Sw.) DC.…”

“…On the abaxial face non-glandular unicellular trichomes are present and scars are sometimes observed (Fontenelle, Costa, & Machado, 1994;Armstrong, Duarte, & Miguel, 2012;Retamales & Scharaschkin, 2015) this characteristic is often found in the family Myrtaceae, as well as paracytic stomata (Retamales & Scharaschkin, 2015;Lemos et al, 2018;Lemos et al, 2019;Lemos et al, 2020). The presence of stomata on one side of the leaves (hypoestomatic) guarantees the plant a water saving in periods of water scarcity and intense light (Esposito-Polesi et al, 2011).…”

“…Research focusing on ecological leaf anatomy has been reported in the Myrtaceae family for genera such as Eucalyptus L'Hér. (Ali et al, 2009), Eugenia L. (Alves, Tresmondi, & Longui, 2008;Esposito-Polesi, Rodrigues, & Almeida, 2011;Lemos, Lucena, Bonilla, & Edson-Chaves, 2019), Metrosideros (Amada, Onoda, Ichie, & Kitayama, 2017), Myrceugenia O.Berg (Retamales & Scharaschkin, 2015), Myrcia DC. (Amorim & Melo Júnior, 2016;Lemos, Lucena, Bonilla, Edson-Chaves, & Freitas, 2020;Costa, Lucena, Bonilla, Radosavljevic, & Coutinho, 2020) and Syzygium Steud.…”

Comparative study of the chemical composition, larvicidal, antimicrobial and cytotoxic activities of volatile oils from E. punicifolia leaves from Minas Gerais and Goiás

“…It is a shrub with a yellow cylindrical stem with light spots, the leaves are elliptical or opposite lanceolate and petiolate, the flowers are arranged in white panicles. It has ripe fruits that are simple, fleshy, with an intense red color with a glabrous and shiny surface, astringent, indehiscent flavor, with an obovate to an elliptical shape, with two or three seeds (Martins, 1989;Coneglian, 2007;Senra, 2012) Anatomically, it presents secretory cavities with diffuse distribution both on the leaf surface and on the petiole (Lemos, et al, 2019).…”