B. Papp szerk.: Studia Botanica Hungarica 32. 2001 (Budapest, 2001)

Bercu, R.; Péterfi, St.: Anatomical aspects of the leaf blade in fern Polystichum setiferum (Forsk.) Woynar

Studia bot. hung. 32, pp. 121-124, 2001 ANATOMICAL ASPECTS OF THE LEAF BLADE IN FERN POLYSTICHUM SETI FERU M (FORSK.) WOYNAR R. BERCU

1 and L. §T. PÉTERFI

2 1 Department of Botany, Faculty of Natural Science, Ovidius University Mamaia Str. 124, R-8700 Constanza, Romania E-mail: rodicabercu @yahoo, com 2

Biology-Geology Faculty, Babes-Bolyai University Republicii Str. 42, R-3400 Cluj-Napoca, Romania Cross sections of the pinnule in Polystichum setiferum (Forsk.) Woynar revealed an upper epidermis, a chlorophyllaceous mesophyll and a lower epidermis. Within the homogeneous mesophyll veins are present. Between the lower epidermal cells, stomata occur. In the epidermal cells chloroplasts are present. Key words: anatomy, pinnule, Polystichum, mesophyll, stomata INTRODUCTION The knowledge about the anatomy of ferns in Romania is quite limited; those concerning the structure of the frond, especially the pinnule, are almost lacking (TOMA 1977, PALADE 1997, TOMA and RUGINÄ 1998). This paper attempts to provide further information on the anatomy of the lamina, including stomata in one autochthonous fern, namely Polystichum setiferum (Forsk.) Woynar. MATERIAL AND METHODS The pinnule was preserved in FAA fixative (formalin-acetic acid-alcohol) dehydrated with graded alcohol series and embedded in paraffin (JOHANSEN 1940). Semi-thin cross sections (10-12 urn) were obtained at a Minot microtome and subsequently stained with iodine green and carmine alumen. Stomata were obtained by scratching the lower epidermal surface of the pinnule. The observations and the drawings were performed with a Nikon bright field microscope, equipped with a Carl Zeiss (Jena), camera lucida. Studia Botanica Hungarica 32, 2001 Hungarian Natural History Museum, Budapest