ANATOMICAL STRUCTURE OF SOME MEDICINAL HALOPHYTES By

Abstract

This work was achieved to study the morphological and anatomical structure of two medicinal and widely distributed desert halophyets growing in Cairo-Suez desert road, WadiHagool and El sokhna coast, Zygophyllum album (Zygophyllaceae)and Nitrariaretusa (Nitrariaceae). The study included different plant organs (root, stem, leaf, and flower). It was found that the root of Z. album is diarch and the secondary xylem embedded in lignified cells. The secondary phloem contains a lot of druses. The young stem has epidermal cells having nearly isodimetric shape or slightly elongated tangentially with thick outer walls covered with thick cuticle layerand inner tangential walls are somewhat thicker than the anticlinal ones. The old stem has the ordinary secondary growth. The leaf of Z. album is fleshy, cylindrical. The epidermis covered with unicellular trichomes and provided with sunken stomata. The mesophyll is centric differentiated intophotosynthetic tissue and water storage tissue.Each sepal has three traces, while oneleaf trace for each petal and stamen. Each carpel has five vascular bundles. The flower has a toral nectary. Nitrariaretusa root is diarch and has a usual secondary thickening. There are groups of parenchymatous cells which store starch in the secondary phloem. Phellem is composed of 6 to 15 layers of cells having an isodiametric shape or elongated cells. The stem cortex is rich in tannin cells and the innermost cortical layer is differentiated into starch sheath. The leaf is unifacial, the mesophyll is rich with many idioblastes. Stomata are sunken, scattered on both abaxial and adaxial epidermis. Each sepal has three traces, each petal, stamen has oneleaf trace. The vascular supply of the ovary and ovules was studied. The abovementioned anatomical features could be considered as anatomical function to adaptation to drought, salinity and heat stress. Keywords: Zygophyllum album, Nitrariaretusa, Medicinal Halophytes, Morphological, Anatomical, Flower.