Authors : F.N. Mbagwu , C.U. Nwachukwu and B.C. Ubochi
Abstract: Studies on the leaf epidermal characteristics of 4 species of Citrus namely: C. sinensis, C. limon, C. aurantifolia and C. parandisi were carried out to investigate and compare the leaf epidermal features and possibly establish the taxonomic relationships among these taxa. The results showed that at the lower leaf epidermis, the epidermal cells of C. sinensis and C. aurantifolia are irregular but vary from pentagonal to hexagonal in C. limon and rectangular to pentagonal in C. paradisi. Also, at the upper leaf epidermis, the epidermal cells of C. sinensis and C. paradisi are irregular, pentagonal in C. aurantifolia but vary from rectangular to pentagonal in C. limon. Both taxa showed interspecie similarities in anomocytic stomata, absence of stomata at the upper leaf epidermis, absence of trichomes, absence of subsidiary cells and thick walled cells that characterized all the species. The similarities in structures are strong reasons for the 4 taxa to be in the same genus while the differences suggest reasons for the existence of each as a separate specie and thus strenghten the reliability of leaf epidermal features as taxonomic tools.
F.N. Mbagwu , C.U. Nwachukwu and B.C. Ubochi , 2007. Leaf Epidermal Characteristics of Four Species of the Genus Citrus (Rutaceae) . Agricultural Journal, 2: 713-716.