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Leaf morphology of a facultative rheophyte,Farfugium japonicum var.luchuense (Compositae)

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Abstract

The gross morphology and anatomy of leaves in a facultative rheophyte,Farfugium japonicum var.luchuense, were examined in order to clarify how the two characters are correlated with one another and how the facultative rheophyte differs from obligate rheophytes in leaf morphology and anatomy. Most rheophytes of the variety have narrowly cuneate leaf base, while most inland plants usually have truncate to cordate one, although the habitat-morphology correlation is not so clear. The leaf shape or the divergence angle of leaf base is strongly correlated with the number of primary veins and intervein-distance dependent on the number of cells intervening between veins. This makes a marked contrast to many reported cases of obligate rheophytes in which the leaf shape is strongly correlated with cell size. There is a rough tendency that narrower leaves of rheophytes have a thicker cuticular layer. However, the cell size and the volume (area) of intercellular space differ only slightly with the leaf shape.

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Usukura, M., Imaichi, R. & Kato, M. Leaf morphology of a facultative rheophyte,Farfugium japonicum var.luchuense (Compositae). J. Plant Res. 107, 263–267 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02344253

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02344253

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