COMPARATIVE FOLIAR EPIDERMAL STUDIES IN CYMBOPOGON CITRATUS (STAPF.) AND CYMBOPOGON GIGANTEUS (HOCHST.) CHIOV. IN NIGERIA

The foliar epidermal studies were carried out on Cymbopogon citratus and Cymbopogon giganteus with the aim of determining the patterns of variation in their epidermal characteristics and assessing their value in species identification and classification. The characters of diagnostic importance in the identification of C. citratus are the micro hairs, which are sparsely distributed in the adaxial epidermis and prickle hairs present in both abaxial and adaxial epidermis. The diagnostic character for C. giganteus is the papillae seen alongside their long cells.