Bambara groundnut and kersting's groundnut are said to be extremly drought resistant. The present study was made on the existece of water storage tissue in the leaves with special reference to the drought resistance of the both groundnuts.
All investigations were performed comparing bambara groundnut and kersting's groundnut with peanut. The results obtained were as follows ;
1. In Bambara groundnut and kersting's groundnut plants, anatomical features of cross sections of leaves were similar with those of the common legume leaves, whereas almost adaxial epidermal cells and most of abaxial cells were water storage cells.
2. In both plant leaves of Bambara groundnut and kersting's groundnut, shape of the water storage cell was rectangle and its size was larger in the adaxial epidermis than in the abaxial one. The cell size of adaxial epidermis was somewhat larger in kersting's groundnut than in Bambara groundnut, while the size of abaxial epidermis was nearly the same between the both plants.
Comparing with the water storage cell of peanut, the cells of the both plants was rather small in size.
3. Volume of the water storage cell per whole leaf tissue was about 40 per cent in kersting's groundnut and peanut, but it was about 35 per cent in bambara groundnut.
4. Among the plant species which have water storage cell in the adaxial epidermis, the cell size was smallest in rex begonia (
Begonia rex-cultorum Bailey), followed in ascending order by saintpaulia (
Saintpaulia inantha H. Wendl.), begonia semperflorens (
B.semperf lorens Link et Otto), bambara groundnut, kersting's groundnut, dendrobium (
Dendrobium nobile Lindl), and stone crop (
Crassula arborescens L.) .
5. In both Bambara groundnut and kersting's groundnut, density of stomata per unit leaf area was less in the adaxial epidermis than in the abaxial epidermis. Ratio of the density in the former to that in the latter was about a half in bambara groundnut and about one-tenth in kersting's groundnut. Particularly, in kersting's groundnut, stomata was not observed in the mariginal portions of the leaves in the adaxial epidermis.
Further, in the both plants, the stomata of adaxial epidermis was distributed only above the respiration cavity.
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