ABSTRACT
Study on the cytology and cytomorphology of plant species or a taxonomic clade at large provides useful taxonomic features which will be use in arrangement of plants germplasm. This study assessed the cytology and cytomorphology of two plants from the Maranthaceae family. The plants part studied in this research were the (Buds and leaves) of M. purpurea which was collected from Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, Nigeria, and S. leucantha buds and leaves which were collected from Lagos road, Ugbowo, Benin City, Edo State. The plants part were fixed with acetocarmine primarily for fixation and also to preserve the plants from desiccating, then squash experiment was carried out on the buds, epidermal observations were carried out on fresh material. Fresh material samples were taken from identical regions of each leafs abaxial and adaxial surface, usually from midway between the base and the apex of the lamina. Epidermal peels then light microscope were used to investigate the epidermal characteristics of the leaves and also the pollen structures of the plant. From the result present in this study it was observed that a number of dissimilarities occur among plant in the genera, the result showed that the stomata type of plants is also an important features which could be used to classify plants of similar genera. In conclusion, from the results of this study, it was found that the distinctive features of the cytomorphology and pollen morphology of the family maranthaceae and Lirnnaceae were a single grain, radial symmetry, apolar, dodecahedric, pentagon or hexagon or spheroidal shaped, polypantoporate aperture, exine sculpturing granulate, macrogranulate, and rnicrospine. The study also showed the stomata type presents in the species Salvia leucantha and Marantochloa purpurea.
