A morphological study of the hairs of Marsilea L.

Abstract

A morphological study of hairs of Marsilea L. was undertaken. Methods involving scanning electron microscopy, histology and light microscopy were employed. Examined material based on 24 African species, 3 New World and 3 Australian species. The hairs are dorsiventrally flattened; sculptured with numerous papillae on dorsal surface, but very few or lacking on ventral surface. Hairs in all species are all anvil-shaped, elaborated into a two-armed, asymmetrical, uniseriate body. Mars-ilea farinosa is an exception for possessing two hair kinds, the anvil-shaped and the simple type.Traditional classification of Mars-ilea species is based on sporocarp characters; but existence of interspecific variation in hairs can lend support to a stable classification of the genus.