Anatomy- An Efficient Tool in Plant Taxonomy for Family Identification

The present investigation is an attempt to distinguish two closely related families Verbenaceae and Lamiaceae through anatomical study. It is difficult to distinguish some plants in Verbenaceae and Lamiaceae because of their great morphological similarity. The anatomical parameters used to differentiate these two families were stomatal type, stomatal index, type of trichomes in epidermis, trichome intensity and trichome length. A similarity in the leaf and petiole anatomy was noticed. From this study it is concluded that taxonomic identification of family through anatomy is not only widens scope of taxonomy but also provides an efficient approach to identify the plant. The present work indicates that certain characteristics of Lantana show similarity towards other Lamiacean members including the two genera recently shifted to Lamiaceae from Verbenaceae family. Therefore this study foresees a chance of reshifting of Lantana from Lamiaceae to Verbenaceae in far future.