Essiett Uduak Aniesua and 1Etukudo Inyene Silas
Leaf epidermal studies of three species of Acalypha are described. The mature stomata were laterocytic, staurocytic, anisocytic, paracytic and diacytic. The abnormalities noticed include unopen stomatal pore, two stomata sharing one subsidiary cell, one guard cell, parallel contiguous and aborted guard cell. A. godseffiana can be distinguished by parallel contiguous on both surfaces. Curved uniseriate non-glandular trichomes were restricted to A. wilkesiana. Two stomata sharing one subsidiary cell occurred only on the lower surface of A. hispida. The shapes of epidermal anticlinal cell walls, guard cell areas, stomata index and trichomes varied. The differences are of taxonomic importance and can be used to identify and delimit each species by supporting other systematic lines of evidence.
