Abstract
Plumbago are perennial spreading shrubs with sprawling, prostrate branches of stem often appearing intertwined and bark containing longitudinal furrows and ridges. Differently colored attractive salverform corolla with persistent calyx with densely covered mucilage secreting stalked emergences are features characteristic of Plumbago flowers. Narrow leaf area index with absence of petiole is disadvantageous in terms of photosynthetic productivity, but advantageous in conserving water loss due to transpiration in dry habitats. In Indian system of traditional medicine (Ayurveda), the roots of Plumbago species were found used in treating various ailments such as rheumatic pain, diarrhea, dyspepsia, pustule, and skin diseases and also as diaphoretic, appetite stimulant, vesicant, and contraceptive agents, since ancient times. The present study aims to delineate the morphological and histo-morpho diagnostic profile of the stem, root, and leaves of three species of Plumbago and analyze their qualitative and quantitative anatomical peculiarities to support the pharmacobotanical characterizations using digital microscopic, stereomicroscopic, and polarized microscopic techniques and photomicrographs taken from the paradermal, cross-sectional, tangential, and radial sections of the specimens.
Cross section of lamina had shown a two-layered palisade parenchyma, which was found to be continuous in the mesophyll. The salt gland complex of Plumbago species was comprised of 16 cells organized into four concentric rings or tiers of four quadrants. Amphistomatic condition with stomatal complex of anisocytic (cruciferous type) type was noticed among the species, where stoma flanked by three specialized subsidiary cells, of which one was markedly smaller than other two. The mean number of stoma per square millimeter of leaf area was found to be varied remarkably among Plumbago species and found to be higher for P. capensis and lower in P. indica and intermediate in P. zeylanica. The cross-sectional view of the root appeared circular in outline in P. indica, but margins shivered in cross sections of P. capensis and P. zeylanica roots. The contour of the midrib was quite characteristic among the species where lamina prominently raised at the middle on the adaxial side to form an inverted V-shaped configuration and vascular bundles in the midrib were collateral and closed and encircled by parenchymatous bundle sheath. Xylem rays were predominantly of biseriate or triseriate and even multiseriate aggregate with 4–5 cells wide occasionally found among the species. Among the three species of Plumbago, the vessel density of root was found to be higher in P. capensis (539.5 μm/mm2) and lower in P. indica (101.85 μm/mm2), and mesomorphy index ratio was found to be lowest (3.05) for P. capensis, highest (46.23) for P. indica, and intermediate (13.47) value for P. zeylanica. At the center portion of cross section of root, secondary xylem showed a somewhat crowding of vessels, and most vessels at these region seemed to be occluded with tylosis in P. indica, P. zeylanica and P. capensis.
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Sudhakaran, M.V. (2021). A Comparative Account of the Morphological and Anatomical Characteristics of Three Medicinal Halophytes. In: Grigore, MN. (eds) Handbook of Halophytes. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-57635-6_39
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-57635-6_39
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