FOLIAR AND BRANCH ANATOMICAL STUDIES OF SOME URBAN TREES

The present study was conducted on eleven urban tree species i.e,  Acacia nilotica, Alstonia scholaris, Cassia fistula, Conocarpus erectus, Dalbergia sisso, Eucalyptus citriodora, Melia azedarach, Mimusops elengi, Pongamia pinnata, Putranjiva roxburghii, and Syzygium cumini. The anatomical studies were carried out on one and a half year old saplings of these species, which were planted in Botanic Garden Government College University Lahore. Stomata and xylem anatomy was carried out using light microscope.  The results showed that the size of stomata ranged from 5.50 to 11.93 µm, the maximum size was found in Mimusops elengi and the minimum was found in in Cassia fistula. The number of stomata ranged from 22.5 to 212, maximum was found in Alstonia scholaris and minimum in Mimusops elengi. The size of stem xylem vessel ranged from 12.21 to 25.52 µm, maximum was found in Cassia fistula and minimum in Mimusops elengi. The number of stem xylem vessel ranged from 8.75 to 45.5, maximum was found in Alstonia scholaris and minimum in Acacia nilotica. The size of root xylem vessel ranged from 18.07 to 80.61 µm, maximum was found in Dalbergia sisso and minmum in Mimusops elengi. The number of  root xylem vessel was ranged from 3 to 14, maximum was found in Alstonia scholaris and minimum in Dalbergia sisso. The theoretical hydraulic conductivity (ki) for stem ranged from 1.37×10-11   Kg µm-1 Mpa-1s-1 to 6.01×10-11 Kg µm-1 Mpa-1s-1, maximum in Acacia nilotica and minimum in Cassia fistula. The theoretical hydraulic conductivity value for root xylem vessel ranged from 1.01×10-11 Kg µm-1 Mpa-1s-1 to 6.69×10-11 Kg µm-1 Mpa-1s-1, maximum in Acacia nilotica and minimum in Syzygium cumini. It is concluded that species with maximum ki value consumed more water and on the basis of water conduction per xylem vessels and the species with small ki conduct less water per xylem vessel. Such data can be useful to plan the plantation for the urban ecosystems.