Studying epicuticular wax of tepal epidermis in annual Polygonum s.str. (Polygonaceae)species in Iran

Polygonum s.str. (Polygonaceae) comprises 300 species in the world with cosmopolitan distribution. This genus has 9 annual and 16 perennial species in Iran with taxonomic problems. Nowadays plant conservation problem is one of the main concerns of countries specially those with rich floras. Knowing biological and taxonomic characteristics is the first step in achieving this topic. Species of this genus is often known for their antioxidant, antibacterial and also medicinal effects in treatment of the inflammatory disease of the kidney and digestive system. Due to these aspects, conservation of these plants are very important. In present study epicuticular waxes of tepal epidermis in 8 annual species as P. aviculare ,P. arenastrum ,P. molliaeforme ,P. patulum ,P. argyrocoleon ,P. olivascens ,P. polycnemoides ,P. rottboellioides were studied to find diagnostic features. Studies were conducted by use of scanning electron microscopy (VEGA3 TESCAN) with different magnitude. Studied species showed differences in shape of epidermal cells and wax ornamentations ( wavy, wrinkled, papillate). Multi-variate statistical analysis was done by with PAST Ver. 2.17. Results of present study showed that epicuticular wax features are of diagnostic importance in morphologically similar species as P. polycnemoides and P. rottboellioides and P. argyrocoleon, P. olivascens and P. patulum.