Infraspecific variation of leaf anatomy in Origanum vulgare grown wild in Greece

The histological components of the leaf were studied in dried herbarium material of the three Origanum vulgare subspecies (subsp. hirtum , subsp. viridulum and subsp. vulgare ) grown wild in Greece. These three, geographically distinct, taxa showed remarkable differences in their leaves. The leaves of subsp. hirtum grown in the Mediterranean climatic zone of Greece are characterized by thick cutinized outer walls of the epidermal cells and a thick mesophyll with highly developed chlorophyllous tissues. Peltate glandular trichomes and stomata are numerous on bom leaf surfaces. The thickness of the mesophyll decreases in the other two subspecies grown in the northern part of the country, where a Continental type of climate occurs. The number of glandular trichomes and stomata also decreases. Besides these differences, a noticeable reduction in the size of the essential oil-accumulating subcuticular chamber of the glandular trichomes and in the number of the peribasal cells, has also been recorded in die plants of subsp. vulgare and viridulum.