Morphological investigation of glandular hairs on Drosera capensis leaves with an ultrastructural study of the sessile glands

Abstract

Electron and light microscopy were employed to elucidate the types of glandular hairs on Drosera capensis L. leaves. Eight types of stalked and sessile hairs were found. One type of long-stalked red hair is present only along the margin of the adaxial surface of the leaf, and five types of short-stalked hairs exist mainly on the central part of the adaxial surface of the leaf. Two types of sessile glands are abundantly distributed on both the adaxial and abaxial leaf surfaces. The sessile glands of two head cells are described for the first time in D. capensis, and the sessile glands of four head cells are illustrated for the first time in the genus Drosera. The presence of a secretion from the two head cells of the sessile glands and the dark large vesicles inside them suggests a secretory function. Numerous wall ingrowths are present in the outer tangential and radial cell walls of the head cells of the sessile glands, increasing the surface area to facilitate mucilage secretion.