Investigation of Morphological and Anatomical Characteristics of Bolanthus turcicus Grown in Turkey

Caryophyllaceae is one of the largest families that includes approximately 100 genera and 3000 species. Bolanthus (Ser.) Reichb., is one of the smallest genera of the family. The feature that makes this genus important for Turkey is that all of the taxa are endemic to Turkey. This study was carried out in order to contribute to the systematics of the genus by determining the anatomical and morphological features of Bolanthus turcicus Koç & Hamzaoğlu. Plant material was collected from the Hasandağı region (Aksaray province). In addition, general appearance of the taxon taken in its natural habitat is presented as well. For anatomical studies, living materials were kept in 70% alcohol. Transverse sections of root, stem and leaf were taken by hand and stained using Sartur and chloral hydrate reagents. The photos of characteristic structures were photographed by a binocular light microscope with a Leica DFC280 camera at 4x, 10x and 40x magnifications. The anatomical structure of the vegetative organs of the locally endemic B. turcicus species was determined for the first time, and it was determined that the anatomical features could be used in the differentiation of Bolanthus species. Druze crystals are found on the stem and leaves of the studied species. In addition, it was observed that the stomata wsere diacitic in leaf superficial sections. Important morphological features of the plant with taxonomic value have been revealed.