ANATOMICAL STUDY ON HIBISCUS L. (MALVOIDEAE) OF MALVACEAE SENSU LATO IN TOOR AL-BAHA DISTRICT, LAHEJ GOVERNORATE, YEMEN

Abstract

The current study presents anatomical characteristics of Hibiscus in Toor Al-Baha district, Lahej Governorate, Republic of Yemen. The study was carried out from August 2020 to the end of January 2022. Plant specimens were collected from different habitats in Toor Al-Baha district, The anatomical study of the wild species of  Hibiscus in the study area showed that several anatomical characteristics are important in distinguishing between the five species studied, such as the stellate crystals and gum in the phloem of the vascular cylinder of the stem, the presence of glandular and non-glandular hairs in the upper epidermis of the leaf blade, the number of rows of palisade cells in the mesophyll of the leaf blade, and the number of layers that they consist of the cortex. Needle crystals are important in distinguishing H. aristaevalvis from the rest of the studied species. Furthermore, most of the studied species of Hibiscus contained star and prismatic crystals in their palisade cells of mesophyll tissue, except for H. trionum, whose palisade cells did not contain prismatic crystals. Likewise, stone vesicles distinguished H. trionum from the rest of the species. Micrometric measurements of the most important anatomical characteristics in the stem, petiole, and leaf blade of the five species of Hibiscus studied varied significantly and showed a high degree of differentiation among them.