Matthew F Volny

By James L. Seago, Willow B. Eyres and Matthew Volny

Aquatic, stoloniferous plantlets with floating leaves and nodal, adventitious roots of Trapa natans and emergent, stoloniferous, rooted plants of Justicia americana from the Oswego River, New York, USA, were investigated to determine root and shoot structures. These riverine eudicots have typical root anatomy with aerenchyma, endodermis, and exodermis. Both species contain stem tissues with endodermis which encircles one stele in T. natans and polysteles in J. americana. The aquatic stolon of T. natans has circumferentially spaced primary xylem with primary phloem. Erect stems of J. americana normally lack an endodermis in aerial portions above the water line. Extensive collenchyma is a conspicuous feature under the epidermis in stems of both species. Large stolon cortical cavities are characteristic of T. natans, but they are not found in the hypocotyls; in J. americana aerenchyma lacunae occur throughout ground tissue. The peduncle of T. natans has a stele with a ring of vascular tissue of primary xylem with phloem exterior to the xylem, surrounded by endodermis and air cavities, and pith aerenchyma. Leaves of both species do not contain barrier layers. Petioles of T. natans usually contain subepidermal collenchyma and aerenchyma with enlarged lacunae in inflated bladders.

Part of the book: River Basin Management