Foliar Epidermal Characteristics of Some Grass Species in Gbele Resource Reserve, Upper West Region, Ghana

The study presents investigations into the leaf epidermal characteristics of sampled grass species in Gbele Resource Reserve to determine variations or similarities in terms of the presence of anatomical features among the grass species. The scraping method was used to study both the adaxial and abaxial epidermis of grass species. Pictorial illustrations of the epidermis of all the grasses studied were presented with their anatomical features. The study revealed variations and similarities among some of the grass species. The adaxial and abaxial epidermis of Andropogon gayanus, Rottboelia cochinchinensis, Imperata cylindrica, Hyparrhenia rufa, Elucine indica, Hyperthelia dissoluta and Brachiaria lata were clearly distinguished into coastal and intercoastal zones. The coastal zones were generally narrower while the intercoastal zones were broader. These zones were however not recorded in Setaria pallide-fusca. Rows of small round papillae were found in both short and long cells in the adaxial and abaxial epidermis of only Andropogon gayanus. Solitary or no stomata were seen in the adaxial epidermis of Andropogon gayanus, Rottboellia cochinchinensis, Hyparrhenia rufa and Digitaria horizontalis. However, numerous stomata were observed in the abaxial epidermis of all the grass species. A mixture of high domed to triangular shaped subsidiary cells of the stomata was observed in Elucine Indica and Brachiaria lata. Low domed subsidiary cells were recorded in Andropogon gayanus, Setaria pallide-fusca and Sporobolus pyramidalis. Leaf epidermal studies have become an essential tool in providing information of taxonomic importance. It affords us the opportunity to classify and identify grasses into their various tribes and genus of the family poaceae.