Morpho-anatomical aspects of the first- and-second year leaf epidermis of some Rhododendron L. winter-green species in the Bugsko-Polessky Region

This paper discusses morphological and anatomical aspects of the first-and-second-year-leaf epidermis of the two winter-green species, genus Rhododendron L.: R. catawbiense Michx. and R. davidsonianum Rehd., grown in the Bugsko-Polessky Region from the seed reproduction of the Central Botanical Garden of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus. The representatives of the studied genus are promising crops for planting gardens, settlements and interiors. Therefore, the study of leaf anatomy lets to find plants adaptive features to different environmental conditions and identify their adaptation capacity in the new conditions of growth. The paper identified diagnostic features, as well as similarities and differences of morphometric parameters. The research method was a comparative anatomical one. The author made a code of diagnostic features of the leaf anatomical structure, which described the views of cross sections. The character of the natural confinement species lays its mark on the formation of individual elements of the leaves structure, ensuring their successful adaptation to the new conditions of growth. The studies have shown that both species quite successfully acclimatized and are promising for mass reproduction and wider use in the Bugsko-Polessky Region, and this is supported by qualitative and quantitative indicators of the morphology and internal leaf structure.