Table 1.

The representative species, family, habitat and their stomatal attributes^*

Species	Family	Habitat	Photosynthesis type	Stomata shape	Stomatal control	Stomatal movementa	Stomatal area (µm2) (mean ± s.e.; n = 10)
Platycerium bifurcatum	Polypodiaceae	Epiphyte fern; rain forests	CAMb	Kidney	Passivee	Up-down	1368 ± 57
Asplenium nidus	Aspleniaceae	Either epiphyte or terrestrial fern; grows in shady, humid areas	C3c	Kidney	Passivee	Up-down	2384 ± 84
Arabidopsis thaliana	Brassicaceae	Annual weed; native to Europe, Asia and north-western Africa	C3	Kidney	Active	Sidewards, up-down	239 ± 19
Commelina erecta	Commelinaceae	Perennial herb; distributed worldwide, requires moisture	C3	Kidney	Active	Sidewards, up-down	710 ± 18
Sorghum bicolor	Poaceae	Grass; hot, dry regions, high irradiation, fields	C4d	Dumb-bell	Active, superiorf	Sidewards, up-down	202 ± 8
Triticum aestivum	Poaceae	Grass; sunny fields, wide distribution	C3	Dumb-bell	Active, superiorf	Sidewards, up-down	760 ± 74

^*Data from:

a, Beerling and Franks (2009);

b, Rut et al. (2008);

c, Reinert (1998);

d, Giussani et al. (2001);

e, Brodribb and McAdam (2011);

f, Franks and Farquhar (2006).