Morphological and anatomical studies of Artemisia vulgaris L. and Santolina chamaecyparissus L. Asteraceae

The main objective of the present study was to carry out a detailed botanical study (phytography) of two plant species; namely, Artemisia vulgaris L. and Santolina chamaecyparissus L. under local conditions to get a better insight on their morphology and anatomy; in addition to the volatile oil composition. Plant identification and authentication procedures were carried out at the Herbarium, Flora and Phyto- Taxonomy Researches, Horticulture Research Institute, Agricultural Research Center, Dokki, Giza, Egypt( CAIM). Cultivation was carried out on October 20th ., 2006 and the field work lasted to February 2009. The experiment was designed in RCB at the rate of 4 replicates (a replicate 3x4 m, 5 ridges 60 cm apart and plants 50 cm distance in between). Two plants were designated in each of the four replicates (total of 8 plants) of each of the studied species to follow up the vegetative characters at monthly intervals, including; plant height (cm), length of the main stem (cm), number of internodes of the main stem and number of the lateral branches. Also, fresh and dry weights of vegetative growth per plant (g) were determined. Moreover, 40 plants (10 per replicate) were fixed at 7-day intervals for mugwort and at 5-day intervals for lavender cotton to follaw up the flowering behaviour of studied plant species. Anatomical studies were carried out for various organs of the two studied plant species including adventitious roots, rhizomes, main stem, through its apical, median and basal portions, leaf blade, petiole, inflorescence, in addition to stomata and trichomes. At opened flowers stage, the volatile oil of mugwort composed 32 components. Camphor, verbenone and camphene were the main ones the volatile oil of lavender cotton, however, included 36 components. Santolina alcohol, 1.8-cineole and artemisia ketone were the main constitueuts