Description

Abstact
Arundo donax of the family Poaceae is economically very important plant which accumulates silica in the form
of phytoliths. Silica bodies (phytoliths) protect the plant from various biotic and abiotic stresses. It also provides
the mechanical support, stiffness and durability to the stem. Present paper describes the distribution, diversity and
frequency of opal phytoliths in the leaves and stems of Arundo donax. A number of morphotype of phytoliths are
present in the leaves and stem, which are very characteristic and are useful for the taxonomic identification of the
plant. The most common type is the bilobate phytolith, other forms include the trapezoids, prickle micro hairs,
long micro hairs, epidermal long cells, stomata, bulliform, parallelepipedal cells and knobbed spine phytoliths.
Silica deposition is the most common in the epidermis or in the bundle sheath cells of the vascular bundles and in
the subepidermal sclerenchyma.
Key words: Arundo donax, Epidermal cells, Phytolith, Silica, Monosilicic acid