Histology of medicinal plantsMansfield, William James
Science
Histology of medicinal plants
Mansfield, William James
Botany, Medical; Plant anatomy
The microscopic examination of insect powder is difficult for the
reason that there are so many elements to be constantly kept in mind.
The parts of the flower which contribute characteristic cells are the
stem, involucre, ray flowers, disk flowers, and the receptacle. In
each of these parts there are many different types of cells.
There are practically two types of flowers found in insect powder of
commerce: first, closed or immature flowers, and secondly, open or
mature flowers. As explained above, the half-open flowers consist
largely of the two above-named varieties. Let us first consider the
structure of the closed insect flowers as illustrated in Plate 118.
[Illustration: PLATE 118
POWDERED CLOSED INSECT FLOWER
(_Chrysanthemum cinerariifolium_, [Trev.] Vis.)
1. Edge of scale. 2. Fibre of scale. 3. Hairs. 4. Upper epidermis
of ray flower. 5. Under epidermis of ray flower. 6. Cross-section
of ray petal. 7. Parenchyma of ray flowers with crystals. 8. Lobe
of disk petal. 9. Filament tissue. 10. Calyx tissue, 11. Lobe of
stamen. 12. Pollen. 13. Papillæ of stigma. 14. Secretion cavity
with surrounding cells. 15. Parenchyma of the receptacle.]
The involucre has many characteristic cells. The more prominent
ones seen in the powder are the edge of the scale with the attached
hair (Fig. 1). These hairs (Fig. 3) are T-shaped. The terminal cell
is expanded laterally, and it terminates in two points. Connecting
the terminal cell with the epidermis are two or three cells which
are slightly longer than broad. In the powder the terminal cell is
usually attached to fragments only of the supporting cells. Fibres of
the bracts have thick, wavy, porous walls, and they have a tendency
to occur in masses. The upper epidermis (Fig. 4) of the ray-flower
petal is prominently papillate. The under epidermis consists of
wavy cells without papillæ. Another view of the papillæ is shown in
Fig. 6. The parenchyma of the ray flowers (Fig. 7) contain cubical
crystals. The lobe of the disk-flower petal (Fig. 8) is papillate at
the end, the terminal cells have thick outer and thin inner walls.
The filament tissue (Fig. 9) is composed of nearly square cells. The
calyx tissue (Fig. 10) is made up of thin-walled cells with slightly
papillate margins. The lobe of the stamen (Fig. 11) consists of
nearly uniform epidermal cells which are in contact throughout their
long diameter, while the hypodermal cells are thin-walled and angled.
The pollen grains (Fig. 12) are dark yellowish green, thin, and the
wall does not appear perforated by pores. The papillæ of the stigma
(Fig. 13) are clustered, club-shaped, and nearly white in color. They
are usually found detached in the powder. All parts of the pistil
contain secreting cells, but the most conspicuous secreting cavities
(Fig. 14) are those of the ovary. These cavities appear brownish in
color and are surrounded by small cells which appear indistinct on
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