Comparative Twig Anatomy of Some Woody Species Belonging to Betulaceae Family

Abstract

Carpinus (Hornbeam) and Ostrya (Hop-hornbeam) are two genera belonging to the Betulaceae family. In this study, the anatomical features in the twig wood of Carpinus orientalis Mill., Carpinus betulus L. and Ostry carpinifolia Scope., native to Turkey, were comparatively examined. The anatomical features studied are as follows: tangential and radial vessel diameters, vessel frequencies, ray frequencies, ray heights and ray widths. No statistically significant differences were found for radial and tangential vessel diameters, vessel frequencies, ray heights and ray widths between C. orientalis and C. betulus twig woods. However, in the twig wood, ray frequency of C. orientalis is 18% higher than that of C. betulus. In the twig wood, the tangential vessel diameter of O. carpinifolia is 37.3% and 43.5% wider respectively compared to C. orientalis and C. betulus. Similarly, the radial vessel diameter of O. carpinifolia is 45.1% and 56.8% wider respectively compared to C. orientalis and C. betulus. The vessel frequency of O. carpinifolia is 27,6 % and 16.9% less than that of C. orientalis and C. betulus, respectively. The ray height (µm) of O. carpinifolia is 71.5% and 69% less compared to C. orientalis and C. betulus, respectively. Among the three species, there is no statistically significant difference in terms of the ray widht (as µm and the number of cell) and the ray height (as the number of cells) in the twig wood.