Anatomical study of Dendrobium (Orchidaceae) of Nepal

Abstract

Dendrobium Swartz is one of the largest and most problematic genus of subtribe Dendrobiinae, tribe Malaxideae of family Orchidaceae. Twenty-six species of Dendrobium investigated are characterized by the variations in anatomical characters of leaves, stems, stomata and stegmata. These anatomical characters are taxonomically significant and used as distinguishing characters for delimiting taxa at the infrageneric level. An artificial dichotomous key based on anatomical characters of leaves and stems for the identification of Dendrobium species of Nepal is provided. The cluster analysis based on anatomical with micromorphological characters is carried out with the aim of investigating interrelationships among the species of Dendrobium present in Nepal.