Anatomical and histochemical analysis of Dysphania ambrosioides supported by light and electron microscopy

ABSTRACT Dysphania ambrosioides (L.) Mosyakin & Clemants (syn: Chenopodium ambrosoides L.), Amaranthaceae, popularly known as “mastruz”, is an herb widely used in Brazil as anthelmintic. To contribute to the knowledge about medicinal plants, a microscopic analysis was accomplished to describe the main anatomical characters of root, stem, petiole and leaf blade of D. ambrosioides and histochemical tests were performed on the leaf blade. Cross-sections were obtained, by hand, for microscopic analysis of root, stem, petiole and leaf blade; to the leaf blade were still made paradermal sections, scanning electron microscopy analysis, maceration and histochemical tests. The main characters useful in the identification of the plant were: anomalous secondary thickening in the root and stem; presence of idioblasts containing crystal sand in the root, stem, petiole and leaf blade; in these there are also idioblasts with druses; presence of non-glandular and glandular trichomes in the stem, petiole and leaf blade; stomata on the stem, petiole and leaf blade, identified in these as anomocytic and anisocytic; dorsiventral mesophyll and collateral vascular bundles. Maceration revealed that the vessel elements are helical type. Through the histochemical tests, it was evidenced the presence of lipophilic substances, essential oils, oleoresins, phenolic compounds, starch, lignin and calcium oxalate crystals. This work provides support to the quality control of the species.

All green, but equal? Morphological traits and ecological implications on spores of three species of mosses in the Brazilian Atlantic forest.

Spores of the tropical mosses Pyrrhobryum spiniforme, Neckeropsis undulata and N. disticha were characterized regarding size, number per capsule and viability. Chemical substances were analyzed for P. spiniforme and N. undulata spores. Length of sporophyte seta (spore dispersal ability) was analyzed for P. spiniforme. Four to six colonies per species in each site (lowland and highland areas of an Atlantic Forest; Serra do Mar State Park, Brazil) were visited for the collection of capsules (2008 - 2009). Neckeropsis undulata in the highland area produced the largest spores (ca. 19 µm) with the highest viability. The smallest spores were found in N. disticha in the lowland (ca. 13 µm). Pyrrhobryum spiniforme produced more spores per capsule in the highland (ca. 150,000) than in lowland (ca. 40,000); longer sporophytic setae in the lowland (ca. 64 mm) than in the highland (ca. 43 mm); and similar sized spores in both areas (ca. 16 µm). Spores of N. undulata and P. spiniforme contained lipids and proteins in the cytoplasm, and acid/neutral lipids and pectins in the wall. Lipid bodies were larger in N. undulata than in P. spiniforme. No starch was recorded for spores. Pyrrhobryum spiniforme in the highland area, different from lowland, was characterized by low reproductive effort, but presented many spores per capsule.

Anatomy of leaf and stem of Erythrina velutina

Erythrina velutina Willd., Fabaceae, known as "mulungu", is a tree of tropical regions, as northeastern Brazil. Its bark is used in folk medicine as tranquilizer, sedative and insomnia. This study aimed to characterize the stem and leaf anatomy and to provide subsidies to quality control of the plant drug due to its wide use in folk medicine as well as its differentiation from other species with the same popular name. Samples were collected at Cuité, in Paraíba State, Brazil, fixed in FAA50, semipermanent slides were made, following usual procedures in plant anatomy. The stem shows a cylindrical contour, covered by a uniseriate epidermis covered by a thickened cuticle. It shows claviform glandular and branched trichomes with uniseriate stalk. Secretory cavities are into the phloem. The leaf epidermis has branched and glandular trichomes and anisocytic and paracytic stomata, on both sides, with predominance of branched trichomes and stomata on abaxial surface. Secretory cavities in stem and leaf, types of trichomes and stomata, its location and distribution constitute diagnostic characters for this specie. The structural characterization of the stem and leaf allows its distinction from other ones of this genus, ensuring safety for commercial pharmacological uses, allowing certification of the authenticity of raw material.