www.tjprc.org editor@tjprc.org MORPHOLOGICAL AND ANATOMICAL FEATURES OF ALTERNANTHERA BETTZICKIANA (REGEL) G. NICHOLSON ARUL PAMILA 1 , S. KARPAGAM 2 & P. JAYARAMAN 3 1 Research Scholar, Department of Botany, Queen Mary’s College, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India 2 Associate Professor & Head, Department of Botany, Queen Mary’s College, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India 3 Plant Anatomy Research Centre, West Tambaram, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India ABSTRACT Alternanthera bettzickiana (Regel) G. Nicholson is an edible green and has adequate medicinal properties. This present study is aimed at identification of the plant based on macroscopic and microscopic observation. Alternanthera bettzickiana is an erect or spreading, bushy colourful ground covering prostrate perennial herb. Stem is an erect or creeping, much branched, with the apical part of the stem is quadrangular, the basal part is cylindrical and hairy at the apex and nodes. Flowers are often axillary sessile spikes or clusters. The anatomy of the root A. bettzickiana different thickness was studied. The vascular system of the root exhibits unusual or anomalous type of secondary growth. The vascular system is multi-stranded. There is a horizontal arc of about 10 vascular bundles in petiole of Alternanthera bettzickiana. There are two equally developed vascular bundles placed side by side in the midrib region in leaf of Alternanthera bettzickiana. The bundles are elliptical in shape and collateral with upper xylem strand and lower phloem strands. The stomata are exclusively diacytic type in Alternanthera bettzickiana. Crystals of calcium oxalate druses are fairly common in the ground parenchyma cells of the petiole and mesophyll cells of the leaf of Alternanthera bettzickiana. The ovules are broad, elliptical and curved embryo. This study provides referential botanical information for correct identification of the plant. KEYWORDS: Alternanthera bettzickiana, Vascular Bundles, Crystals & Diacytic Stomata Received: Oct 10, 2018; Accepted: Oct 30, 2018; Published: Nov12, 2018; Paper Id.: IJBRDEC20182 INTRODUCTION Amaranthaceae is a cosmopolitan family consisting of 64 genera and about 800 species, mostly abundant in tropical regions of America, Africa and India (Arul Pamila and Karpagam, 2018). Alternanthera is the second largest genus in subfamily Gomphrenoideae of Amaranthaceae (Eliasson, 1990 and Townsend, 1993). The genus comprises approximately 80 species which are widespread in the tropical and subtropical regions of New World. Alternanthera has 200 species in the tropics and sub-tropics region. The genus Alternanthera is represented in India by five species, namely A. sessilis, A. pungens, A. tenella, A. paronychioides and A. bettzickiana (Sivarajan and Mathew 1984; Naik and Pokle, 1985). Alternanthera is enriched with vitamin, flavonoids, glycosides, saponins and other secondary metabolites (Jogendra et al., 2012). A. bettzickiana (Regel) Nicolson (syn. Telanthera bettzickiana Regel (Reddy and Raju, 1997), is an erect herbaceous perennial and an ornamental pot plant in houses and public gardens, often with variegated leaves, growing 20 - 80 cm tall (Standley, 1938). Alternanthera bettzickiana is native of South America, commonly known in English as Baptist plant, border plant, red calico plant and cultivated throughout South East Asia and Original Article International Journal of Botany and Research (IJBR) ISSN (P): 2277-4815; ISSN (E): 2319-4456 Vol. 8, Issue 6, Dec 2018, 5-18 © TJPRC Pvt. Ltd.