Anatomy of fruit and leaf of Cestrum strigillatum Ruiz et Pav. (Solanaceae)

Abstract

Cestrum strigillatum Ruiz et Pav. (Solanaceae) is a shrub 1,8-4 m high, with aromatic white-greenish flowers. The fruit is a dark purple berry. It lives inside and at the borders of rain forests in La Yunga, Paranaense and Chaqueña phytogeographic provinces. In the leaf anatomy there are three major types of exodermic appendixes: in candelabra hairs, glandular cum eglandular, and glandular. There are sphaerocrystals in the mesophyll and in the bundle of the bicolateral middle nerve. In the fruit anatomy, mesocarp with esclereids and testa reticular enlargements are observed. In this study, we provide diagnostic characteristics for this species identification, for taxonomic and pharmaco-botanic studies, and herbivorous diets.