FOLIAR ANATOMY OF THE GENUS SILENE L. (CARYOPHYLLACEAE) AT SECTIONAL LEVEL IN IRAN

In this research, Iranian species of 20 sections of the genus Silene L. have been anatomically studied for the first time. Some of the most important anatomical characters of leaf in this genus are listed here: general shape of leaves in transverse section, type of stomata cells, form of trichome, type of mesophyll (dorsiventral or isobilateral), presence or absence and type of collenchyma, thickness of sclerenchyma, existence or lack of water-storage, shape of vascular bundles, number of parenchyma layers in midrib, form and number of spongy and palisade parenchyma, presence or absence of parenchyma bundle sheath, number of vascular bundles in midrib. Based on our results we are able to identify and classify sections of this genus (tables 2, 3). In addition, we selected the most important characters related to midrib and lamina. All of these results confirm anatomical characters have taxonomic value for separating sections in the genus Silene.