Structure Cells and Function Cells of Coleus aromaticus

Introduction

Coleus aromaticus is the scientific name of common oregano that can be found in some gardens

or landscapes here in the Philippines and around the world. De Loureiro (1970) was the first to

describe the genus Coleus. Coleus aromaticus (Fam. Lamiaceae), syn. Coleus amboinicus Lour.

Spreng or Plectranthus ambonicus Lour, in Hindi and Bengali, is commonly known as

‘Pathorchur’ (Kumar et al., 2007). It is a kind of large succulent herb which has an everlasting

aroma (Kaliappan et al., 2008). Southeast Asian cultivators of species Coleus were selected

because of their colorful variegated leaves, with sharp contrast of leaves and are in green, pink,

yellow, maroon, and red color (Uphof et al., 1959). The plant can grow 50 cm tall with

horizontal stems up to 180 cm in long potted plants (N. Hariram et al., 2016). The leaves are

highly aromatic with a strong flavor of mixed herbs (Pritima, and Pandian. 2008). Patki et al.

(2016), Faleiro, Leonor et al. (2005), and Dragland, Steinar et al. (2003) highlighted the multiple

potentials of C. aromaticus herb in terms of medicine and scientific experiments. Its leaves are

often used for culinary dishes to add spice. In terms of botany, it is a plant which came from a

small seed or cuttings to make it grow in its preferred warm temperature place.

De Loureiro (1970) said that Coleus word came from the Greek word “koleos” which means

sheath. And it is said that there are 150 species of Coleus and more than 500 varieties in

cultivation present around the globe. According to Anonymous (2002) and Warrier (1994), C.

aromaticus is a dicotyledon plant which belongs to the Lamiaceae family and is in the genus

Coleus. Dicotyledon type of plant is a double cotyledon bearer plant and oregano is one of the

dicot plants. The name Coleus was derived from classification of Coleus which is a species that
is included in genus Plectranthus or Solenostemon, another genus. In an upward scientific

classification of C. aromaticus, it will start with its Synonyms that are Coleus amboinicus Lour.

and Coleus aromaticus Benth, the Binomial name, Plectranthus amboinicus (Lour.) Spreng, the

Species, P. amboinicus, the Genus, Plectranthus, its Family, the Lamiaceae, its Order, Lamiales,

the Unranked Asterides, its Unranked Eudicots, the Unranked Angiosperms, and its Kingdom,

the Plantae Kingdom. It is in the kingdom Plantae for the reason that it can be classified as a

plant which has roots, stems, and leaves (Prakash et al., 2012).

C. aromaticus leaf has a broadly oval shape with curves on sides. C. aromaticus is a green

colored plant that is 4 to 9 centimeters long and a heart-shaped plant with a margin of round

tooth shape and a hairy texture (Philippine Medicinal Plant, n.d,). It is also known for its

aromatic odor which can give a cool sensation to the people who can smell it. Despite of its

physical appearance, the important structures are in the inside of plants. And they are the cells.

Plants cannot be formed if there are no cells inside it. Oregano and other plants will not be

formed if there are no existing cells that can build up the structure of a plant. For cells are the

main source of building a plant or any other living things. That is why this research sought to

know the structure cells and function cells in the leaves of Coleus aromaticus. Aside from the

scientific classification and description of C. aromaticus, there are cells that can make the birth

of the plant possible. The structure cells which can build the tissue are the cells and it is

responsible for constructing the leaves of the plant. Aside from the structure cells, there are the

function cell, they are responsible for transporting nutrients and food for the leaves and all over

the plant (including the stem and the roots).

This research is about learning and knowing the basic function and structure tissue cells about C.

aromaticus leaves for the readers to understand and know the cells inside it. The scope of this
study is all about the cells that can be found on leaves only. Researchers did not include stems

and roots. The goal of the researchers is to determine the said tissue cells to have a better

understanding of the said plant.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Figures of microscopic Coleus aromaticus

Transverse section of leaf can be seen in the figures. The tissues in the lamina and midrib are the

following: Upper epidermis is made up of cuticle with rectangular single-layered cells. The

covering trichomes and glandular trichomes were seen in both upper and lower epidermis

figures. The covering trichomes are arranged in a single layer and is in acute apex multicellular
structure. Covering trichomes is usually made up of 2-3 cells. Basal cells of the trichomes in

Coleus aromaticus are wide.

The mesophylls are in the two regions. In the upper epidermis, it is a single-layered compacted

and is elongated in the palisade cells. In lower epidermis, the mesophylls are spherical

parenchymatous cells but they do not have intercellular space that has the chloroplast. The lower

epidermis is the same as the upper epidermis but due to the presence of stomata and many

covering and glandular trichomes, it is discontinuous.

The midrib part takes shape as a plano-convex with hemispherical ventral side and flat dorsal

side. Lamina in the epidermal layer is continuous up to the midrib region. The vascular bundles

are single and consist of 4-6 layers of xylem and thin phloem and is small. Solitary vascular

bundle can be found also in the midrib (Om et al., 2010). The surface on the epidermis in the

plant shows the stomata that is diacytic type.

For the structure and function tissue cells, it is common to the dicot leaves to have upper and

lower side. On the upper side, they are responsible for obtaining the sunlight to make and

produce food for themselves. The internal structures are the following: Epidermis, mesophyll

tissues, and vascular tissues. The epidermis is the one that is present in both upper and lower

layer. They are usually made up of uniseriate cells that are arranged compactly, parenchymatous,

and thin walled. The upper epidermis part has thick cuticle layer for the protection but for the

lower epidermis, it is thin. Those cuticles are responsible for preventing so much evaporation of

water from the surface of the leaves. The stomata in the leaves are present on the lower part so

they can control the transpiration through opening and closing their openings. In mesophyll

tissues, it has two differentiated tissue: palisade tissue that can be found below the upper

epidermis and arranged in a right angled to the cells. The shape of the cells in palisade tissue are
columnar and is arranged without inter cellular space. They contain large amount of chloroplast

that is arranged along the radial walls of the cells and they are responsible for the photosynthesis.

The spongy cells are located below the lower epidermis and they have polygonal shape cells.

They are loosely arranged that has large inter cellular space. Because of the loosely arranged

inter cellular space, the spongy tissue has many air spaces which is internally exposed that is

responsible for the gas exchange. The water vapor is exchanged in cells and inter cellular space.

Those inter ventilating system will be open with the help of stomata. The number of chloroplasts

that is present in mesophyll cells are lesser than the palisade tissue and as a result, the color of

the lower surface layer is pale green. The vascular bundles, which is present in the midrib, are

surrounded by the colorless parenchymatous cells and is spread up to the upper and lower

epidermis. They are called the bundle sheath extensions. The vascular bundles have xylem that is

lying in the upper epidermis and the phloem is lying in the lower epidermis.

METHODS