Morphological and foliar epidermal studies of fronds of Platycerium bifurcatum and P. superbum in Rivers State, Nigeria

Abstract

Abstract. Ajuru MG, Joshua JA, Chikere LC, Ibiye A. 2024. Morphological and foliar epidermal studies of fronds of Platycerium bifurcatum and P. superbum in Rivers State, Nigeria. Cell Biol Dev 8: 28-35. This work investigated the morphological and foliar epidermal characters of the sterile and fertile fronds of Platycerium bifurcatum (Cav.) C. Chr. and Platycerium superbum de Jonch. & Hennipman in Rivers State University, Nigeria. The two species of ferns, P. bifurcatum and P. superbum, belong to the family Polypodiaceae. They are unique epiphytes and have intrigued botanists, horticulturists, and plant enthusiasts; investigating plants' morphological and foliar anatomical structures has been crucial for plant classification. Qualitative and quantitative analytical methods were used for morphological study, while light microscopy was used for foliar anatomical study. Results showed that P. bifurcatum is a perennial, evergreen, broadly terrestrial, epiphytic fern. The rhizome is clingy, brown, or copper-colored, short, coarse, hidden, and enclosed in more than two peltate scales, and the frond is dimorphic (sterile and fertile), while P. superbum is a perennial, broad, and multi-branching terrestrial and epiphytic fern. The rhizome is a short-creeping, hidden, brown, or copper-colored structure, covered with chaffy, lanceolate scales and embedded in a mass of fronds and roots, and the frond is dimorphic. Epidermal cell shapes were found to be irregular, with thick and straight to wavy anticlinal walls in the fertile fronds, and irregular, with wavy to sinuous, thick anticlinal walls in the sterile fronds. The stomata types observed were diacytic, amphidiacytic, and anomocytic, except for the abaxial and adaxial surfaces of the sterile fronds of P. bifurcatum, which were paracytic and hemiparasitic. This study focuses on recognizing morpho-anatomical characters of the fronds of these species, which will help in taxonomy, species identification, future comparisons, and quality control of the botanicals.