Morphological and anatomical characteristics of Leaf and Stem anatomy in Garcinia mangostana L. 

Abstract

Garcinia mangostana has been widely used to treat abdominal pain, diarrhoea, dysentery, infected wound suppuration, and chronic ulcer. The observation on cellular level morpho-anatomy is a major aid for the authentication of the species. Because of this, the present study was carried out for the morphological and anatomical exploration of the leaf and stem of Garcinia mangostana L. (Family: Clusiaceae), popularly known as Queen of fruits. In morphological evaluation, it was observed that the leaves are opposite, shortly petiolate, thickly coriaceous, ovate-oblong, simple with entire margin, base acute to obtuse, apex acuminate, glabrous, pinnately nerved with a prominent midrib, evenly spaced lateral nerves and green in colour. Stem is cylindrical in shape and brownish-green in appearance. Microscopic evaluation revealed the presence of thick cuticle, uniseriate epidermis, and rubiaceous stomata. The leaf tissues include druses and calcium oxalate crystals. It is concluded that these characteristics are important for the identification of the studied species used in drugs.