EFFECT OF DIFFERENT SOILS ON THE STEM ANATOMY OF CYPERUS SPECIES FROM DIFFERENT AREAS OF PUNJAB PAKISTAN

Abstract

After Poaceae and Orchidaceae, Cyperaceae is the third largest family of monocots. It is also called the Sedge-family. Plants of this family are tolerant to different environmental stresses as they can grow in wide range of environmental conditions. Its largest genera include Carex and Cyperus. Cyperus containing the 600 species of sedges. Approximately, 22 genera and 179 species have been reported to be found in Pakistan. Plants of family Cyperaceae are found in a variety of habitat types such as high altitude, steep slopes, extreme aridity, swamps, extreme salinity, moist areas and marshes. Cyperus is the largest genus of Cyperaceae family. The transverse sections of stems of different species of Cyperus collected from different areas of Punjab including desert and semi-desert, were cut. The stem sections and soil samples were investigated to analyze the adaptations in stem anatomy with respect to changes in soil parameters. The results showed diverse modifications in the stem area, vascular bundle thickness, phloem cell area, metaxylem cell area, collenchyma cell area, sclerenchyma thickness, and epidermal cell area in different plants depending on the type of soil of the particular region. The modifications were parallel to increased growth rate of the plant in that region.