Anatomy and Morphology of Sun- and Shade-grown Ficus benjamina1

Abstract

Weeping fig ( Ficus benjamina L.) plants were greenhouse-grown under full sun or 75% light exclusion. Shade-grown leaves were larger, thinner, flatter, and darker green than sun-grown leaves. Sun- and shade-grown plants had the same total leaf area and were the same height. Shade-grown leaves had a single, poorly developed palisade layer with large chloroplasts dispersed throughout the palisade cells. Sun-grown leaves had one or two layers of well developed palisade cells with the chloroplasts aligned primarily along the radial walls. Stomatal density was greater in sun-grown leaves, but shade-grown leaves had more stomata per leaf.