Foliar Epidermal Characters of Some Sterculiaceae Species in Nigeria

Foliar epidermal studies were conducted on ten species in the family Sterculiaceae in search of stable taxonomic characters that could be employed in order contribute to their classification and identification. In spite of the remarkable morphological differences, the results indicated that the species are relatively uniform in their quantitative macromorphological characters except for the leaf shape and base which varied from elliptic, lanceolate to palmate and leaf base from cordate, obtuse to cunneate. The epidermal characters such as number of cells, anticlinal wall pattern, cell wall thickness and the stomata size varied among the species. The epidermal cells varied from polygonal to irregular while the anticlinal walls varied from straight to straight\curve and slightly curved. All the species except Cola nitida (Vent) Schott, Malachanta alnifolia (Bak) Pierre, Mansonia altissima (A.Chev) R.Capuron, Theobroma cacao Linn and Waltheria indica Linn are amphistomatic. Stomata types included anisocytic in T. cacao, laterocytic in C. hispida, anomocytic in C. millenni Schum, Staurocytic in C. nitida and paracytic in W. indica, M. altissima and Malacantha alnifolia