Morphological and anatomical studies of Syzygium polyanthum (Wight) Walp. (Myrtaceae)

Syzygium is the largest genus with medicinal value that is found distributed all over Peninsular Malaysia and widely used for the treatments of diabetes, cancer, endometriosis, hypertension and also used as ulam. To further investigate the pharmacological aspects of Syzygium polyanthum there is the need for morpho-anatomical studies of S. polyanthum. The study aimed to evaluate the morphological and anatomical characteristics of S. polyanthum (serai kayu and serai kayu hutan). Morphological study revealed less variation between serai kayu and serai kayu hutan such as the length, width of the leaf, and petiole length. However, they are widely variable in terms of the anatomy including stomatal cells, presence of unicellular hairs in the abaxial leaf surface of serai kayu hutan, different shapes of vascular bundle in the midrib and petiole that have been observed. Abundant oil secretion glands were observed in serai kayu hutan from the transverse section of leaf midrib. The above documented information is very important for taxonomic identification and authentication, which will serve as a guide for quality control in natural product development.