Characterization of Some Fig Cultivars by Anatomical Traits on Both Leaves and Stems

Submitted: Jul 25, 2013; Accepted: Sep 4, 2013; Published: Sep 4, 2013 Abstract: The present study included anatomical studies of the stems and leaves of 7 cultivars of Ficus carica were investigated. The anatomical examination of the cross sections of the above mentioned stems and leaves revealed diagnostic characters among species. Data of comparative characters reached 14 couplet characters and 2 quantitative characters, data matrix were organized on the basis of variations to obtain a classification using sequential indented key and cluster analyses. Data matrix included the anatomical description and features of the epidermis, cortex, pericycle, vascular bundles and pith for stem anatomy and epidermis, mesophyll, midrib region and vascular bundles for leaf anatomy. These results were used in distinguishing the 7 cultivars of Ficus carica by indented key and statistical analyses (MVSP) to showed similarity between matrix and dendrogram. Such type of results could be valuable for further studies which will employ these results to interpret abiotic stress, where there is a strong relationship between anatomical structure and abiotic stresses tolerance in plants.