The
structure, distribution and taxonomic importance of foliar
stomata in 45 taxa belonging to 19 genera have been studied. In
all, six stomatal types have been recognized
viz.,anomocytic,diacytic, diacytic.paracytic,hemiparacytic and
brachyparacytic.The majority of the taxa are amphistomatic
whereas hypostomatic leaves are confined to only three taxa.
Stomatal diversity is common but most of the taxa showeither
dominance or codominance. Stomatal distribution is helpful in
distinguishing the three tribesof Amaranthaceae. The tribe
Celosieae shows exclusive presence of anomocytic and anisocytic
stomata whereas Amarantheae and Gomphreneae show other stomatal
types viz., paracytic and diacytic in addition to anomocytic and
anisocytic stomata. Further, the latter two tribes are each
distinguishable into two subtribes on the basis of stomata
To view examples click on text to your left
