REINWARDTIA Published by Herbarium Bogoriense — LBN, Bogor Vol. 10, Part 1, pp. 103 — 106 (1982) ANATOMICAL EVIDENCE FOR REINSTATING SCHIZOSTACHYUM LONGISPICULATUM AND S. BIFLORUM SUHARDJONO PRAWIROATMODJO Herbarium Bogoriense — LBN, Bogor, Indonesia ABSTRACT Based on the differences in their leaf anatomy, it is suggested that S. longispiculatwm, S. biflorum and S. blumei, should be considered as three distinct species, ABSTRAK Berdasarkan perbedaan anatomi daunnya, diusulkan agar S. longi- spiculatum, S, biflorum dan S. blumei diperlakukan sebagai tiga jenis yang berbeda, INTRODUCTION Schizostachyum longispiculatum Kurz was merged with S. blumei Nees by Monod de Froideville (1968) but Ridley (1925) discriminated the two species by their flowers. S. longispictdatum has lanceolate and mucronulate glumes and glabrous lodicules, but in S. blumei the glume and lodicule are absent. McClure (1936) described a new species S. biflorum McClure based on specimen collected by Blume from Mount Salak. This species looks similar to S. blumei, but the flowers of these two species are different, because S. blumei has one floret in each pseudospikelet whereas S. biflo- rum has two. At Mount Salak, in the area probably visited by Blume I found one grove of S. biflorum. Monod de Froideville (1968) did not mention S. biflorum among the species occurring in Java. The present study is aimed at discriminating S. biflorum, S. longispi- culatum and S. blumei on the basis of the characters of leaf epidermis. MATERIALS AND METHODS The material of S. biflorum was collected from Mount Salak, whereas — 103 — 1 0 4 R E I N W A R D T I A [VOL. 1 0 that of S. blumei and S. longispiculatum came from the Bogor Botanical Garden. Fresh material was placed in FAA and kept for about 24 hours. To get the abaxial part of the leaves, the adaxial part was removed by scraping with a sharp knife, and 1% safranin in water and 1% fast green in absolute alcohol were used for double staining, followed by serial dehydration with alcohol. The specimens were then mounted in Canada balsam. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION In the epidermis of the abaxial part of Schizostachyum leaves it was observed that short-cells are pairing with silica-cells. The latter has a dumb-bell .shape and consists of granular bodies. One-celled macro- hairs, two-celled micro-hairs, prickle-hairs and papillae are present. The stomata are arranged in rows, each stoma is covered with 8 papillae. The papilla consists of a deeply hollow long-cell and has an irregular form. The differences of the epidermal structure of the three species are presented in table I and illustrated in figure 1 A, B, C. Table 1. Diagnostic microscopic characters of three species of Schizostachyum S. longispiculatum S. blumei S. biflorum 1. Macro-hairs rare abundant abundant 2. Micro-hairs the distal cells equal the distal cells the distal cells longer to or shorter than equal to or shorter than the basal cells the basal cells than the basal cells 3. 4. Prickle-hairs Stomata 2 - rare -5 rows abundant 2—4 rows abundant 3—4 rows The anatomical characters elucidated would seem to indicate that the three species are closely related and quite similar in that the indi- vidual stoma is covered by 8 papillae and that the shape of micro-hairs, papillae, prickle-hairs and stomata are irregular. However, the size and 1982] PRAWIEOATMODJO : Schizostachyum anatomy 105 FIG. 1. A. Abaxial leaf epidermis of Schizostachyum longispiculatum Kurz, B. S. blumei Nees, C. S. biflorum McClure, 1. short-cells, 2. silica-cells and silica-bodies, 3. prickle-hairs, 4. micro-hairs, 5. stomata, G. papillae, 7. long-cells, 8. macro-hairs. 1 0 6 R E I N W A R D T I A [VOL. 1 0 abundance of micro-hairs, prickle-hairs, papillae and stomata are different in S. longispiculatum, S. blumei and S. biflorum. It is justified, therefore, to keep S. longispiculatum and S. blumei as two distinct species, thus supporting Ridley's (1925) conclusion. Similarly the anatomical characters also support the flower characters in distinguishing S. blumei from S. biflorum. Further observations on the anatomy of leaf-epidermis of other species of Schizostachyum reveal that the above anatomical features can also be used in characterizing and discriminating species. These are summarized in the following key. KEY TO THE SPECIES OF SCHIZOSTACHYUM 1. Macro-hairs and prickle-hairs abundant 2. Distal cells of micro-hairs longer than the basal cells 3. Papillae relatively small, stomata 2—3 rows S. brachycladum (Kurz) Kurz 3. Papillae relatively big, stomata 2—5 rows S. biflorum McClure 2. Distal cells of micro-hairs longer than the basal cells 4. Stomata 2—4 rows S. blumei Neen 4. Stomata 4—6 rows S. lima (Blanco) Merr. 1. Macro-hairs and prickle-hairs rare 5. Papillae abundant S. longispiculatum (Kurz) Kurz 5. Papillae rare 6. Miero-hairs with 2 cells S. zollingeri Steud. 6. Micro-hairs with 3 cells, occasionally with 2 cells S. eaudatum Back. I should like to thank Dr. Soejatmi Dransfield for kindly supervising this study. REFERENCES MCCLURE, F.A. (1936). The generic type, and new species, of the bamboo genus Schizostachyum from Java. In Blumea 2 ( 2 ) : 86—97. MONOID DE FROIDEVILLE, C.H. (1968). Gramineae. In BACKER, C.A. & BAKHUIZEN VAN DEN BRINK J R . , R.C. Flora of Java. 3. Noordhoff, Groningen. RIDLEY, H.N. (1925). The flora of the Malay Peninsula. 5. Reeve & Co., London. 10(1) 260 Binder cover-100_Page_007