Discovery of the aconite (Aconitum umbrosum (korsh.) kom) evolvement structure from dicotyledon to a monocotyledon

Abstract

An optical microscope technique and paraffin method was used to conduct an anatomical study on the stems and leaves of Aconitum umbrosum (Korsh.) Kom. (Ranunculaceae). The results showed that the stem had scattered vascular bundles, without the intrafascicular cambium. The leaf epidermis possessed pseudo-bulliform cells. The mesophyll had no distinction between palisade tissue and spongy tissue. The leaves developed multiple vascular bundles of parallel leaf veins, which had the structural characteristics of monocotyledons. The microscopic structure of the stems and leaves of A. umbrosum, a living fossil, were analyzed as part of an attempt to confirm the evolution of plants from dicotyledons to monocots; this study contributes to the completion of the theory of evolution as seen in the Takhtajan and Cronquist systems.