The wood of Bougainvillea Comm. ex Juss. and its importance in the taxonomy of the genus

Abstract

Wood is of great importance and relevance to human existence on Earth. It has been found useful in all walks of life. This calls for documentation of the wood attributes of plants growing around us. Also, there is a dearth of information on the anatomical characteristics of the wood of Bougainvillea species. This study is therefore aimed at documenting the various attributes of the wood of some members of the genus Bougainvillea and explore wood anatomical characters of taxonomic importance among them. Five species of Bougainvillea, B. glabra, B. alba, B. peruviana, B. glabtabilis and B. spectabilis were used in the study. The transverse, tangential longitudinal and radial longitudinal sections of each of these species were cut using a microtome at a thickness of 8-15 μm and prepared on microscopic slides following standard procedure. The various wood samples were also macerated using a modified Schulz’s fluid in order to study their microstructures. The unifying wood anatomical characteristics observed among the Bougainvillea species include the absence of growth ring, heterogeneous vascular ray type, and presence of tylose and simple pitted vessels with oblique end walls. These support the generic classification of the species. The diagnostic features observed among them which can be employed in delimiting the species include axial parenchyma type, presence of raphide bundles, vessel dimensions, fibre length and wood porosity