COMPARATIVE ANATOMEY OF LEAF AND RACHIS OF ROSA L. (ROSACEAE) IN IRAN AS TAXONOMICAL IMPLICATION

In this survey, leaf and rachis anatomy of 14 Iranian species of the genus Rosa belonging to two subgenera and four sections was studied. The species examined are including: Rosa persica, R. beggeriana, R. webbiana, R. moschata, R. canina, R. elymaitica, R. orientalis, R. iberica, R. pulverulenta, R. foetida, R. pimpinellifolia, R. hemisphaerica, R. boissieri and R. villosa. On the basis of morphological features of R. canina, eight form-series were distinguished that five of them were studied in this survey. Among 48 anatomical characters examined only 17 characters are valuable at the species level such as presence or absence of fiber in midrib, the number of palisade parenchyma layers, the angle of two parts of blade, presence or absence of spongy parenchyma, shape of auricle in rachis and the distance of auricles.