Leaf Micromorphology of Gelidocalamus Wen and Its Taxonomical Significance

Gelidocalamus Wen, of which the type specimen is Gelidocalamus stellatus distributed in Jinggang Mountain, was proposed by Wen Taihui in 1982. Since then, new species or taxa have been continuously reported, resulting in the need of a systematic study of the genus. To clarify the relationship among species of Gelidocalamus, leaf micromorphology of nine species were observed by scanning electron microscopy. Results showed that the shape and distribution patterns of long cell, micro hair and macro hair looked very similar in these species. Nevertheless,papillae, prickle hair, stomatal apparatus and short cell showed significant differences among species. In particular, the shape and distributional patterns of the papillae on the stomatal apparatus exhibited rich diversity and were of taxonomic significance for Gelidocalamus.