SECRETORY STRUCTURES IN ARTEMISIA ABROTANUM L. (ASTERACEAE)

Abstract

The genus Artemisia includes a large number of aromatic plants that produce secondary metabolites with numerous applications in the health, cosmetics, food and pest management sectors. However, relatively little is known of the dedicated organs where many of these metabolites are synthesized and accumulate. In this context, the aim of this paper was to identify the essential oil-secreting tissue of Artemisia abrotanum L. (Asteraceae) popularly known as southern wormwood. The morphology of its secretory tissue was studied using optical microscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). For the first time, secretory structures composed of stalked bicellular glands have been identified in the leaf sinuses on the abaxial side of the leaf blades. These secretory structures have not been described before in vascular plant taxa indigenous (native or naturalized) to Romania, but were reported in other Asteraceae species worldwide.