Effect of foliar arrangement on the leaf epidermal structures in Areca palm (Areca catechu Linn.)

The Areca palm ( Areca catechu Linn.) shows alternate phyllotaxy with angular deflection of about 143° between two consecutive leaves, which leads to a spiral mechanism. Foliar spirality of the plant may either be left (FSL) or right (FSR). Analysis of data on five consecutive leaves of 10 FSR and 10 FSL seedlings of Areca catechu reveals that the former plants possess a significantly higher number of stomata and stomatal indices over the latter ones. However, sides of each individual leaf have no effect in determining stomatal frequency, number of epidermal cells and their length. Sides of individual leaf vary significantly (F<005) only in respect of number of epidermal cells and their width. The foliar spirality of a plant, therefore, has a significant role in determining number of stomata per unit area.