ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Comparative Petiole Anatomy in Members
of Polygonaceae as Medicinal Plants from
District Muzaffarabad, Kashmir Himalayas
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1
Department of Plant Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad 45320, Pakistan
2
Department of Botany, University of Kotli Azad Jammu and Kashmir
3
Department of Botany and Microbiology, College of Science, King Saud University,
P.O. 2455, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
4
Genetics and Bioengineering, Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, International University of Sarajevo,
71210 Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
5
Department of Botany University of Azad Jammu & Kashmir
Submission date: 2024-02-23
Final revision date: 2024-03-18
Acceptance date: 2024-04-26
Online publication date: 2024-08-05
Corresponding author
Syed Waseem Gillani
Department of Plant Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad 45320, Pakistan
Mushtaq Ahmad
Department of Botany, University of Kotli Azad Jammu and Kashmir
Muhammad Manzoor
Department of Plant Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad 45320, Pakistan
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ABSTRACT
The petiole anatomy of some medicinally important species was investigated. The comprehensive
explanation of Polygonaceae species is connected to their systematic significance. One of the reliable
characteristics that is used for precise species identification is microanatomical attributes. The main
objective of the current study was to study the taxonomic significance of the petiole anatomy and
ethnobotanical uses of eight Polygonaceae taxa from the Kashmir Himalayan Region. A microtome
was used to assess the microanatomical quantitative and qualitative features of the petiole. The
qualitative characteristics of the petiole were observed, such as collenchyma cell shape, parenchyma
cell shape, epidermal cell shape, and vascular bundles (VBs), with a lot of variations. The number of
VBs and length of the petiole were also examined as quantitative characteristics. The largest petiole
length was observed in Antigonon leptopus (430 μm), and the shortest was in Rumex hastatus (130 μm).
The highest number of VBs were observed in Antigonon leptopus (10), and the lowest in Rumex
chalepensis (2). The largest parenchyma length was observed in Rumex chalepensis (23 μm), and
the shortest was in Rumex hastatus (4.3 μm). The largest collenchyma width (10.6 μm) and length (14.6
μm) were observed in Rumex crispus, and the minimum was observed in Persicaria berbata. Studied
taxa also have high local ethnobotanical uses. Both questionnaires and group discussions were used to collect the ethnobotanical data. The collected data was analyzed using a variety of quantitative metrics,
such as use value (UV) and relative frequency citation (RFC). The majority of medicinal plants utilized
by local communities were herbs (87.5%), with leaves (53.85%) being the most commonly used plant
parts. Among the investigated taxa, Oxyria digyna had the highest use value (1.08), and it also had
the highest relative frequency citation (0.88). This study describes the anatomical and ethnobotanical
exploration of the Polygonaceae and can be further elaborated for the correct identification using
phylogenetic-based micromorphological taxonomic approaches.