A Technique for measuring Structural Features of Plant Epidermis using Cellulose Acetate Films

Abstract

IT is often difficult to peel off areas of plant epidermis which are large enough for accurate determinations of mean cell size and stomatal distribution. Buscalioni and Pollacci¹, and Long and Clements² have described a method for counting stomata using collodion films; but these were found to be sometimes difficult to remove from a treated leaf, and to tend to give poor images of epidermal cells because they become opaque in the presence of water. Recently, Bennett and Furmidge³ have recommended a technique for the study of the distribution of deposits and organisms on plant surfaces using impressions on cellulose acetate or gelatin; structural features of epidermis from some curved surfaces and ‘savoyed’ leaves, however, cannot readily be observed by this method. An additional technique devised here for the measurement of epidermal cells appears to overcome the disadvantages of the above-mentioned methods for this purpose.