Leaf anatomy and hairs of Turkish Satureja L. [Lamiaceae]

There are some taxonomic uncertainties within the Turkish members of Satureja. It is extremely difficult to distinguish some Satureja species because of their great morphological similarity. Satureja species are used as herbal teas and spices, and for this reason they are important commercial and medicinal plants. In this study, the leaf anatomy and hair features of species were examined by LM and SEM. The investigated species can be divided into two main groups, as bifacial and equifacial leaves according to mesophyll structure. They can be secondarily divided into two types based on the midrib region in cross section, as projecting or nonprojecting. Thirdly, two main vascular bundle types can be identified in transverse section according to the presence or absence of sclerenchyma. All species have glandular, peltate and capitate, and nonglandular hairs and diacytic stomata, but the covering hairs differ between species. The leaves of fifteen Satureja L. species were studied in order to assess anatomical variations that may serve as distinguishing characters, and to evaluate their significance for the taxonomy of the genus.