Structural characters of leaf epidermis and their systematic significance in Vitaceae
葡萄科植物叶表皮特征及其系统学意义

Leaf epidermis of 37 species representing 11 genera of Vitaceae was investigated using light microscopy (LM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The shapes of leaf epidermal cells are usually irregular or polygonal; the patterns of anticlinal walls are straight, arched or sinuolate. The stomatal apparatuses, only present on the abaxial epidermis for all sampled genera except Leea, can be assigned into five types. The anomocytic type, occurring in Parthenocissus,Yua,Vitis,Ampelopsis and Ampelocissus, is common in Vitaceae; whereas the other four types can be considered diagnostic of several genera, such as anisocytic type for Leea, hemiparacytic type for Cissus, Cayratia and Tetrastigma, staurocytic type for Rhoicissus, Muscadiania and Tetrastigma, and cyclocytic type for Tetrastigma. Under SEM the cuticular membrane of the leaf epidermis is striated, scaly or granular, and papillae were only found in Yua austro_orientalis. This study provides leaf epidermal evidence for supporting the establishment of Leeaceae as a distinct family, and the separation of Yua from Parthenocissus as a genus of the Vitaceae. There are two major lineages in Vitaceae (excluding Leea), one comprising Parthenocissus, Yua, Ampelocissus, Ampelopsis, Muscadinia and Vitis mainly with anomocytic stomatal apparatuses and 5_merous flowers, and the other including Cayratia, Rhoicissus, Cissus and Tetrastigma mainly with staurocytic, hemiparacytic or cyclocytic stomatal apparatuses and 4_merous flowers.