[Microstructure characteristics and identification significance of leaf epidermis of medicinal plants from Sabia genus].

OBJECTIVE: To study the feasibility and significance of the method to identify medicinal plants through the observation and statistics of 9 species of Sabia medical plants from Guizhou province. METHODS: Leaf epidermis characteristics were observed, measured by optical microscope and analyzed by SPSS 17.0 software. RESULTS: All of these plants had some differences in indumentum, cell morphology and size, and had significant difference in the length and circumference of lower epidermis cells. CONCLUSION: The method combining microscopic observation with statistics can be used as the classification and identification basis of medicinal plants and materials of Sabia genus.