Comparative anatomical investigation of five Artemisia L. (Anthemideae, Asteraceae) species in view of taxonomy

Abstract

Comparative anatomical analysis of vegetative organs has been conducted on Artemisia campestris L., A. absinthium L., A. arborescens L., A. judaica L. and A. herba-alba Asso, using light microscopy, in order to examine the most important anatomical features and to find new valid taxonomic characters. Results have shown that general root, stem and leaf anatomical features and nonglandular and glandular trichomes are shared by all species. However, some characters (parenchyma sheath, which surrounded vascular bundle and extended to both epidermises, subepidermal collenchyma and the absence of secretory canals in the leaves) link together A. absinthium and A. arborescens from the same section. Some characters, as periderm and lignified pith parenchyma cells (A. campestris and A. arborescens), nonendodermal secretory canals in root cortex (A. absinthium and A. judaica) and secretory canals in the leaf phloem (A. judaica and A. herba-alba), connect species belonging to different sections. Moreover, some characters could be considered as species-specific, nonendodermal secretory canals in the root secondary phloem, triangular leaf shape on the cross section and secretory canals in the leaf parenchyma for A. campestris, secretory canals in the stem pith for A. absinthium, crystals in the pith parenchyma cells for A. arborescens and the absence of root secretory canals for A. herba-alba. Given results revealed qualitative characters, on the basis of which the studied species are anatomically distinguishable between each other, provide valuable features for better species identification and contribute to the anatomy of the genus Artemisia.

Anatomical traits of Artemisia umbelliformis subsp. eriantha (asteraceae) alpine glacial relict from Mt. Durmitor (Montenegro)

“…The stem anatomy of the examined taxon is in accordance with the previously described anatomy for other Artemisia species (Konowalik & Kreitschitz 2012;Ivănescu et al 2015;Janaćković et al 2019). The presence of a well-developed periderm, also found in A. campestris and A. arborescens (Janaćković et al 2019), could be considered as an important trait. Konowalik & Kreitschitz (2012) found that A. absinthium var.…”

“…In the root of A. umbelliformis subsp. eriantha endodermal secretory canals are present, which were also documented for A. campestris L., A. absinthium L., A. arborescens L. and related A. judaica L. (Janaćković et al 2019). Large secretory canals are also present in the rhizome cortical parenchyma of the studied taxon.…”

“…Secretory canals were not observed in the stem cortex of the investigated taxon, although they were found in the stem cortex of A. campestris, A. absinthium, A. arborescens, A. herba-alba Asso and A. judaica (Konowalik & Kreitschitz 2012;Janaćković et al 2019).…”

“…Large secretory canals are also present in the rhizome cortical parenchyma of the studied taxon. These findings are important given that the morphology and localization of secretory structures have been used as diagnostic characters for recognition of the Asteraceae species (da Silva et al 2014;Ivănescu et al 2015;Janaćković et al 2019).…”

“…morphology and anatomy). Several studies have proved the significance of anatomical data in Arte-misia taxonomy (Kelsey 1984;Noorbakhsh et al 2008;Hayat et al 2010;Konowalik & Kreitschitz 2012;Janaćković et al 2019).…”