Preliminary stem anatomy of the genus Cinnamomum found in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Anatomical characters of the stem of Sri Lankan species of Cinnamomum C. capparu coronde , C. citriodorum , C. dubium , C. litsiaefolium , C. ovalifolium , C. rivulorum C. sinharajensis and C. verum ) were examined for taxonomic purpose and as an objective t o fill the anatomy data gap of Cinnamomum species. Stem parts collected from three individuals of each speciecs from Cinnamon research center , Matara, were hand sectioned, fixed, stained and observed under light microscope. Shape of the stem of C. litsiaef olium is oval while all other species were round in shape. Rectangular shaped vascular bundle was found in C . l itsiaefolium whereas rest of the species had round shaped vascular bundles with circular arrangement. Sclerides were observed in the pith in diff erent shapes and frequencies. Round shaped sclerides in less than 10 numbers were observed in C. citriodorum, C. dubium, C. verum, C. capparu-coronde and C. ovalifolium whereas more than 20 sclerides of oval or round shape were observed in the pith in C. litsiaefolium and C. sinharajensis. Mucilage cells were observed both in the pith and cortex of C. citriodorum, C. litsiaefolium and C. rivulorum . In C. capparu coronde , C. litsiaefolium and C. verum tannin cells were present in both vascular region and the cortex. However, in C. citriodorum , C. sinharajensis and C. ovalifolium tannin cells were observed only in the cortex and in rest of the species they were observed in the vascular region. Therefore, some anatomical characters of the stem of Cinnamomum cou ld be considered as diagnostic characters for the taxonomic identification and seperation of Cinnamomum species in Sri Lanka. However, these preliminary data must be confirmed with further studies based on more samples covering the whole country.