Morphoanatomical characters for the recognition of two species of asclepias in the province of Santa Fe, Argentina

Abstract

We disclose a morpho-anatomical study of Asclepias curassavica L. and Asclepias mellodora St.-Hil., collected in the Province of Santa Fe, Argentina. Whole plants of both species are commercialized for external and internal use due to its attributed therapeutic properties. For each entity we provide synonyms, folk names, morphological description, common and uncommon anatomical characteristics of roots, stems and leaves. These features were analyzed by optical and scanning electron microscopy. Photomicrographs are included in order to provide adequate differentiation between entities