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. 2023 Jan 5;12(2):259.
doi: 10.3390/plants12020259.

Assessment of Morphological, Anatomical and Palynological Variation in the Medicinal Plant Disporopsis longifolia Craib (Asparagaceae) for Botanical Quality Control

Anuwat Sarapan  1 , Trevor R Hodkinson  2 , Chalermpol Suwanphakdee  1   3
Affiliations

Assessment of Morphological, Anatomical and Palynological Variation in the Medicinal Plant Disporopsis longifolia Craib (Asparagaceae) for Botanical Quality Control

Anuwat Sarapan et al. Plants (Basel). .

Abstract

Disporopsis longifolia Craib is an Asian medicinal plant belonging to the Asparagaceae family. The plants are well known for their steroidal saponins and phenolic compounds and are traditionally used as tonics for back pain, bellyache, cough, diabetes, asthma, pneumonia and rheumatism. However, they are challenging to identify to species level using morphology. This raises a serious concern for their medicinal applications where botanical quality control is essential. The most appropriate morphological, anatomical and pollen characters for species diagnosis were therefore determined. Synonyms were identified and lectotypification provided. The morphological characters were described from 76 fresh and dried specimens to include a broad range of materials from differing habitats and locations. Paraffin and peeling methods were applied for anatomical studies of leaves and stems and a modified acetolysis method was undertaken for pollen morphology. This paper compares the new character data to published data from other species in the genus, namely D. aspersa, D. fuscopicta, D. jinfushanensis, D. pernyi and D. undulata. This is the first report of such anatomical and pollen morphology characters for D. longifolia. The results provide accurate morphological, anatomical and palynological characters for quality control and are best applied in combination with each other.

Keywords: Asia; anatomical characters; lectotypification; medicinal plants; pollen morphology; quality control; species diagnosis; tropical plants.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Morphological features of Disporopsis longifolia. (A) Habit; (B) whole plant; (C) moniliform rhizome; (D) fascicle flowers; (E) flowers; (F) stamen and corona (arrowheads); (G) pistil; (H) fruits. Specimen: Chiang Mai, A. Sarapan 41. Photos by A. Sarapan.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Anatomical characters of stem, petiole and midrib of Disporopsis longifolia. (A) Stem with ridges (arrowheads); (B) raphides (arrowheads); (C) petiole; (D) midrib; (E) echinate cuticle thickening (arrowhead) of upper epidermis; (F) echinate cuticle thickening (arrowhead) of lower epidermis; (Abbreviations: UEp, upper epidermis; LEp, lower epidermis).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Leaf anatomical characters of Disporopsis longifolia. (A) Raised stomata (arrowheads); (B) revolute margin; (C) smooth cuticle thickening (arrowhead) of upper epidermis at coastal zone; (D) smooth cuticle thickening (arrowhead) of upper epidermis at intercostal zone; (E) smooth cuticle thickening (arrowhead) of lower epidermis at coastal zone; (F) smooth cuticle thickening (arrowhead) of lower epidermis at intercostal zone; (G) upper epidermis surface; (H) lower epidermis surface; abbreviations: UCZ, upper epidermis in coastal zone; UICZ lower epidermis in coastal zone; LCZ, lower epidermis in coastal zone; LICZ, lower epidermis in intercostal zone.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Pollen morphology of Disporopsis longifolia. (A,B) Light microscope images; (A) polar view; (B) equatorial view. (C–F) Scanning electron microscope images; (C) equatorial view; (D) perforate ornamentation; (E) monosulcate and areolate ornamentation (arrowheads); (F) areolate ornamentation (top view).
Figure 5
Figure 5
The distribution of Disporopsis longifolia in Thailand and the sample locations. D. longifolia is only located in the Northern (N) and North-Eastern (NE) Floristic Regions. Floristic regions defined in [31]. It is also found in China, Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam.
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