Cuticle micromorphology of leaves of Pinus (Pinaceae) in east and south-east Asia

Cuticle micromorphology of 21 species of Pinus in east and south-east Asia was studied with scanning electron microscopy and leaf morphology was described. Cuticle characters that can be distinguished by their size, shape, and surface texture, as well as by the number of subsidiary cells, the rows of epidermal cells within a stomatal band, the number of cells between stomata in stomatal rows, and the patterns of cuticular flanges are described in detail. Most of these characters have not been considered in sufficient detail previously. Some of the inner cuticular features, such as the texture of periclinal walls, the shape of the top of the anticlinal walls, the comparative size of the lateral and polar subsidiary cells, and the development of the groove near bristles, are diagnostic characters for subgenera. The agreement between cuticle characters and taxa is discussed. Cuticular characters were used to try to resolve the position of taxa that currently appear in different places in different classifications.