HISTO-ANATOMICAL ASPECTS OF THE AJUGA GENEVENSIS L. AND AJUGA REPTANS L. VEGETATIVE ORGANS

The paper aims to achieve a comparative study of the histo-anatomical structure of Ajuga genevensis L. and Ajuga reptans L., species known in our country for their therapeuric properties. In this respect, we analyzed the underground vegetative organs: the root and the rhizome, the aerial vegetative organs: the stem (the upper, lower and medium part), the leaf, to highlighten the possible similarities and differences that may appear in the structures of the two species. At root level, in both the species analyzed, we noticed that the passing from the primary to the secondary structure takes place early, due the cambium activity. In the rhizome structure one may notice that the central cylinder is much thicker than the bark, presenting either arches of conducting tissues or conducting solitary free-xylem fascicles. The stem conducting fascicles are of the collateral type, present in a great number and with different dimensions depending on the species analyzed. In both species studied, the stomatas are of the diacytic type, the tector hairs are uniserial multicells formed of two to seven cells, and the secretory hairs are rare being especially located in the superiour epidermis, with bi-cellular pedicel and bi- or tetra-cellular gland.