Glossary Details – Lecythidaceae

Glossary Details:

Title: Two stomatal types in Gustavia. Drawing by C. A. Gracie.

Description: Anomocytic and anisocytic stomata of two species of the actinomorphic-flowered Gustavia from central French Guiana. Drawing from Mori & Black in Mori & collaborators (1987). It is clear that in the anomocytic type illustrated here there is no differentiation between the subsidiary cells and the other epidermal cells. In contrast, in the anisocytic type as illustrated here the single small cell is not markely smaller but there is a consistent difference among the stomata in that one cell is smaller.

Term:

Anisocytic stomata

Definition:

Referring to a stomatal type in which one of the subsidiary cells surrounding a stomate is smaller than the other epidermal cells.

Notes:

In neotropical Lecythidaceae, the arrangement of the subsidiary cells can be used to help circumscribe genera and to identify species to genus, e.g., most species of Gustavia have anomocytic or anisocytic subsidiary cells and many species of zygomorphic-flowered genera have paracytic or brachyparacytic subsidiary cells.