Study of foliar epidermal characters and petiole anatomy of four underutilized annona (l.) species in Nigeria

Foliar epidermal characters and petiole anatomy of four underutilized Annona species in Nigeria were studied to facilitate identification of this novel source of fruits and also to bring the awareness of Annona fruits to the populace. Annona species being multipurpose trees have high nutritional value as a food and are sources of medicinal and industrial products. Petiole anatomy of the Annona species was undertaken using Light Microscope (LM), the foliar micromorphological study of the species of Annona was undertaken using Light Microscope (LM) and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). More anatomical characters which are of taxonomic value include smooth cuticular membrane, epidermal cells polygonal and occasionally isodiametric, stomatal cells paracytic, stomatal cells hypostomatic, guard cell shape elliptic and presence of peristomatal rim in all the Annona species. The nature of the anticlinal wall, cuticular wax granules, stomatal pore visibility, petiole outline, type of vascular bundle and crystal type are the notable endomorphological characters that provided useful specific distinctions.