Table 2.

Comparison of the leaf anatomy in three taxa

Plant taxa	E. alsinoides var. decumbens (KK & PT 12)	E. alsinoides var. decumbens (KK & PT 13)	E. glomeratus ssp. grandiflorus	E. nummularius
Characters
Leaf epidermis
Adaxial surface
Cell shape	Polygonal	Polygonal	Polygonal	Polygonal
Anticlinal cell wall	Sinuous or straight to curved	Sinuous or straight to curved	Sinuous or straight to curved	Sinuous or straight to curved
Stomatal type	Anisocytic, anomocytic and paracytic	Anisocytic, anomocytic and paracytic	Anisocytic, anomocytic and paracytic	Anisocytic, anomocytic and paracytic
Y-shaped hairs	Present	Absent	Present	Absent
Capitate gland	Present	Present	Present	Present
Abaxial surface
Cell shape	Polygonal	Polygonal	Polygonal	Polygonal
Anticlinal cell wall	Sinuous or straight to curved	Sinuous or straight to curved	Sinuous or straight to curved	Sinuous or straight to curved
Stomatal type	Anisocytic, anomocytic and paracytic	Anisocytic, anomocytic and paracytic	Anisocytic, anomocytic and paracytic	Anisocytic, anomocytic and paracytic
Y-shaped hairs	Present	Present	Present	Absent
Capitate gland	Present	Present	Present	Present
Leaf transverse section
Epidermal layer	Single layer	Single layer	Single layer	Single layer
Parenchyma at midrib	2‒4 layers	2‒4 layers	4‒5 layers	3‒7 layers
Mesophyll	Isobilateral	Isobilateral	Isobilateral	Dorsiventral
Midrib vascular bundle	Bicollateral type	Bicollateral type	Bicollateral type	Bicollateral type
Leaf thickness (µm)	70‒100	70‒100	200‒240	120‒140
Leaf margins	Rounded to slightly acute	Rounded to slightly acute	Rounded to slightly acute	Rounded to slightly acute
Stem transverse section
Epidermal layer	Single layer	Single layer	Single layer	Single layer
Chlorenchyma layer	1‒3 layers	2‒4 layers	2‒4 layers	2‒4 layers
Cortex	1‒3 layers	3‒5 layers	5‒7 layers	5‒7 layers
Vascular bundle	Bicollateral type	Bicollateral type	Bicollateral type	Bicollateral type
Pith	Present	Present	Present	Present