Published Paper Details:

The foliar epidermal and stomatal features of all the ten Medicago L species included in this investigation have presented the same general patterns. Amphistomatic leaves, frequency of stomata appreciably higher at the abaxial surfaces as compared to adaxial ones and typical anomocytic stomatal types in all the taxa tend to indicate that the species selected for studies here form a natural assemblage within the genus Medicago. However,the quantitative data pertaining to Stomatal Index (S.I) and other associated features have thrown quite useful light on the species inter-relationships. The data recorded co-ordinately in terms of mean stomatal length and total stomatal frequency / mm2 in the form of pictorial graph have clearly indicated at the very first glance, formation of different clusters amongst the species. More valuable informations in terms of species inter-relationships appear to have been provided by the Stomatal Index (S.I) data. The S.I values have indicated closest affinity amongst M. interexta (21.90 %), M. rugosa (21.85 %) and M .polymorpha (21.75 %) and almost a closer affinity of this group of species with M. scutellata (22.00 %). The S.I values have suggested that M. sativa (19.80 %) stands closest to M. orbicularis (19.39 %).The increase in ploidy level of some of the selected taxa, did not seem to affect the stomatal counts / mm2 as well as their size.