MACRO AND MICRO-PHYTODERMIC SEASONAL CHARACTERS OF WILD Ruta species (Ruta montana, Ruta chalepensis subsp. latifolia AND Ruta chalepensis subsp. angustifolia) IN NORTHWESTERN ALGERIA

The stomatal diversity characteristics (type, shape, size and orientation) in the foliar epidermis has a great value in plants systematic and taxonomic studies. The micro-phytodermics characteristic's variations in leaves of Ruta species are very little known. So, how this phenomenon may be related to the physiological response of species depending upon their environment is also unknown?

A comparative macro and micro-morphological study under different bio-climate from north-western Algeria of leaves of three Ruta species (Ruta montana (Clus.) L., Ruta chalepensis subsp. latifolia (Salisb.) Lindb. and Ruta chalepensis subsp. angustifolia (Pers.) P. Cout.) was carried out. A morphological study of shape and surface structure (macromorphology) was made. The optical microscope pictures (micromorphology) were taken using Axio Lab.1 Zeiss microscope under 40x and 10x magnification.

The results from this investigation have revealed that the leaflet's samples of Ruta species are amphystomatic with an observation of eight stomata types where the Tetracytic and Anomocytic types are more common than others. We also note an abundance of stomata on the abaxial face depending seasons. The size of stomata and the density of secretory cavities are more important in spring (April) and summer (June); except for R. montana which has no relationship with season effect. Statistical analysis (Analysis of variance ANOVA) revealed a significant difference with p-value α = 0.05 between the species. The variations of leaflets epidermal characters are related to the ecology of the taxa studied.