Petiolar anatomy and venation patterns of Indian members of Rubiaceae

The investigation of node, petiole continuum and the foliar architectural patterns is carried out on 76 species belonging to 39 genera corresponding to 17 tribes of Rubiaceae, distributed in India, having different habits, including trees, shrubs, herbs and a few climbers. The present observation shows diverse characteristic features from simple to complex or rather primitive to advanced feature in case of nodal and petiolar anatomy. The anatomical observations of nodes and petioles and the venation patterns do not show any significant aspect towards the support of the classification of the family Rubiaceae. The classification of Rubiaceae may be further improved by inclusion of additional characters as the foliar anatomical features.