Micromorphology and leaf ecological anatomy of Bassia halophyte species (Amaranthaceae) from Iran

摘要

Bassia belongs to the family Chenopodiaceae, which is widely distributed in theworld, especially in Irano-Turanian Region. According to the morphological similarities amongthe species of the genus, ecological implications of structural features were studied. In fact, understandingthese relationships is of great importance in natural classification. We have studiedthe relationships of Bassia species using morphological, anatomical, and micro-morphologicalmethods. The current results indicated that phenotypic plasticity and repetitive patterns wereprobably due to ecological adaptations, especially in decreasing the leaf surface by changingthe inner structure. All species have a Kranz anatomy structure (Kochioid subtype), related toC4 photosynthesis. The changes in cell size increasing the cell membrane thickness, the densityof two-vascular systems, the increase of palisade to water storage parenchyma ratio and photosyntheticsystem. The leaf surface is covered with long highly dense hairs and microechinateornamentation. Though the adaptation caused some morphological similarities, the variationwas seen in other descriptive characteristics such as morphological and anatomical featuresespecially in two synonym species of B. turkestanica and B. pilosa. Information about the similarityspecies is provided