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Micromorpho-anatomical studies on the leaves and woods of Turkish Daphne (Thymelaeaceae) taxa

Özcan, Melahat1; Erşen Bak, Funda1

Published Jan 06, 2026 on Dryad. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.hqbzkh1wq

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Abstract

The identification of Daphne taxa is difficult because of the lack of available morphological characteristics. Here, we aimed to describe leaf and wood micromorpho-anatomical characteristics of native Turkish Daphne taxa (D. glomerata, D. gnidioides, D. mezereum, D. mucronata, D. oleoides subsp. kurdica, D. pontica and D. sericea) from three phytogeographical regions (Europeo-Siberian, Irano-Turanian and Mediterranean) from Turkiye to contribute to the systematic position of taxa. Totally, 41 leaf and wood characters were investigated. Most of the features were characterised in detail for the first time in these taxa, and statistical analyses were used to evaluate the diagnostic characters. SEM analysis was carried out to determine the surface structures of leaves and tracheal elements of wood. We encountered the following distinct anatomical differences: (1) differences in wax depositions in leaves, (2) in pubescens details, (3) in cell wall patterns, (4) in mesophyll types, (5) in midrib structures, (6) in stomatal number and stomatal length in hypostomatic leaves with anomocytic stomata and (7) in vessel arragement in growth rings, with different ray frequency and cellular ray composition, and the presence of tori in intervessel pits in wood. An identification key based on these micromorpho-anatomical characters is presented, some ecological interpretations are made, and the study’s results are compared to existing data in the literature. Our results demonstrate that the micromorpho-anatomical data across taxa are partly congruent with the classification in the Turkish Flora, but new sectional arrangements may be recommended for the systematic positions of taxa based on their phytogeographical origins.