COMPARATIVE VEGETATIVE ANATOMY AND FRUIT MICROMORPHOLOGY OF THE GENUS KUNDMANNIA SCOP. AND THEIR TAXONOMICAL SIGNIFICANCE

Kundmannia Scop. is a genus of the Apiaceae (Umbelliferae) family which consists of 463 genera and ca. 3500 species. Kundmannia belongs to the Oenantheae tribe and are well represented in Spain, France, Italy, Turkey, Syria and North Africa where they grow on calcareous or siliceous soils. In this study; fruit micromorphology and the vegetative anatomy of the Kundmannia species growing in Turkey were compratively examined for the first time. The anatomical sections were taken from the stem, ray, leaf and and petiole of the plants for taxonomic deduction. Various tissues of taxa were given comparative micro anatomical measurements according to the anatomical studies, lignified or non-lignified medullary rays in stems, stomata types (diacytic and anomocytic), stomata index ratio (0.58 - 0.7), fruit shape and fruit epidermal surface are considered as important anatomical characters. In the fruit micromorphology, the cells on the mericarp surface have seen as striate and rugulate while the surface between the two ribs in the species have observed rugulate or striate. Fruit micromorphology and vegetative anatomy of the genus Kundmannia has not been studied before. However, the anatomical structure of the genus has been elucidated in this study, for the first time.