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Renealmia comprises approximately 85 herbaceous and rhizomatous plants in Africa and America known for their metabolite diversity. This study characterized the anatomy and histochemistry of the vegetative organs of three native Brazilian Renealmia species, R. breviscapa and R. nicolaioides, collected from the Amazon Forest in Acre and R. chrysotricha from the Atlantic Forest in Rio de Janeiro. Samples were fixed and processed using conventional plant anatomy and micromorphology techniques, including histochemical tests to identify classes of compounds in vegetative organs. Characteristics including oil idioblasts, dorsiventral leaf structure, tetracytic stomata, unicellular trichomes, and prismatic crystals were common among the studied species of Renealmia, and thus significant for the family. Distinctive characteristics were identified in the vegetative organs of the three species, including the cellular distribution of root phloem, covering of rhizome tissue, different types and distributions of idioblasts and phenolic trichomes in rhizomes and leaves, presence or absence of petiole, and subepidermal layer in the intercostal region of leaves. Mineral content importance as a diagnostic characteristic of the genus is also emphasized. The results of this study advance the understanding of the distinctive anatomical characteristics of the three species of Renealmia in different environments, two in the Atlantic Forest and one in the Amazon Forest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Copyright of Floresta is the property of Revista Floresta and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Studies on phenols have gained attention owing to their abundance in plants and their effects on plant development. Phenols from forage grasses may exert phytotoxicity on legume crops in intercropping systems. We aimed to identify morpho-anatomical variations in Calopogonium mucunoides Desv. roots treated with phenolic compounds. Seeds of C. mucunoides were treated with (1) distilled water (control), (2) trans-cinnamic acid, (3) a mixture of the flavonoids quercetin, rutin, kaempferol and kaempferol-3-a-rhamnoside, or (4) a combination of the flavonoid mixture and trans-cinnamic acid. After 10 days of treatment, the roots were measured, described and processed according to standard techniques in plant anatomy. In general, non-control individuals showed plant lengths decreased by 40-45%, root-tip necrosis and intense lateral root ramification. Seeds germinated in cinnamic acid presented xylem poles with a greater number of cells and a greater emission of lateral roots. In the seeds treated with flavonoids, cell division was observed in the endodermis and the pericycle, and xylem fibres went through differentiation. The combination of cinnamic acid and flavonoids led to the premature formation of fibres by the phloem. The treatments with flavonoids or cinnamic acid alone were significantly greater in root diameter (868.61 mm and 810.35 mm, respectively) than was the application of both (714.98 mm) or the control (533.76 mm). The results suggest that cinnamic acid and the tested flavonoids negatively affect the development and the root structure of C. mucunoides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]