MICROMORPHOLOGY AND ULTRASTRUCTURE OF TRICHOMES OF LIBYAN SALVIA FRUTICOSA MILL.

Micromorphological and ultrastructural analyses of the leaf trichomes of Salvia fruticosa Mill. were performed by light and electron microscopy. The leaves bear numerous non-glandular unbranched trichomes, and peltate, capitate and digitiform glandular trichomes. Very elongated flagelliform non-glandular trichomes densely covered the leaf surfaces, with especially abundance on the leaf margins. Peltate trichomes consist of a basal epidermal cell, a very short stalk cell and a large round head of eight secretory cells arranged in a circle. Capitate trichomes can be divided into two main types, short-stalked and long-stalked, and further into five subtypes according to the number of stalk cells, morphology and number of glandular head cells. Digitiform trichomes consist of one basal cell, one or two stalk cells and one apical secretory cell, which are of similar diameter and approximately equal length.