Comparative Studies On The Morphology And Anatomy Of Leaves Of Malania Oleifera From Three Kinds Of Distribution

Malania oleifera was one of rare spermatophyte endemic to China. With the changes in environment and ecosystems,the total number of individuals had decreased rapidly and it was considered an endangered plant on the brink of extinction.In this paper,the morphological characters and anatomic structures of the leaves of Malania oleifera which distributed in Longhushang, Bama and Leye of Guangxi Zhuang National Autonomous Region of China were observed by using scanning electron microscope and light microscope.The morphological indexes were length and width of leaves, length of petiolus, area of leaves.The anatomic indexes were thickness of cuticle, thickness and number of upper epidermis, thickness and number of lower epidermis, number of stomatal appratus, length and width of stoma,thickness of palisade,thickness of spongy tissue,number of cutin papilla,length and width of cutin papilla,area of xylern,area of phloem,number and diamiter of vessels.The enzyme bands of hydrogen peroxidase and cytochrone oxidase were tested for the leaves in three distribution and only in Longhushan .The preliminary results showed following points:(l) According to the leaves of Malania oleifera in three natural distribution rolled or not, Malania oleifera was divideded into two types,"roll leaf' and "unruffled leaf'.The length and width of leaves, the length of petiolus, and the area of leaves were different each other . Their enzyme bands of hydrogen peroxidase and cytochrone oxidase of leaves in three distribution were different, and those of in Longhushan only were different too.(2) The leaves of Malania oleifera were commonly characterzed of xerophyte. The outer wall of the epidermis covered thicker cuticula with wax. The lower epidemal cells produced many and long cutin papilla to protecting the water in theleaves loss excessively. The stommatal apparatus existed under the surface of lower epidemis.The mesophyll contained more layer palisade tissue. The cells of spongy tissue arranged closely. The hypoderm existed between the lower epidemis and the spongy tissue. The vein had higher developed xylem and vascular.(3)The morphological and anatomic characters of the leaves were different among distribution.Through analyzing the effect of environmental factors of three distribution,we found one of main limite factor affecting the growth and develop of Malania oleifera was lack of water,which lead to the difference in these morphological and anatomic characters among distribution. The morphological and anatomic characters of the leaves of Malania oleifera adapted to the arid environment. From this point, The morphologic and anatomic characters of the leaves of Malania oleifera had some drought-resistant characters and was not the factor leading to Malania oleifera in the state of endanger.