A study on anatomy of vegetative organs of Agropyron cristatum

Anatomical observation was carried out on vegetative organs of Agropyron cristatum, including roots, stems, leaf and rhizomes, in this study. The results indicated that in order to adapt to a longterm external dry environment, the vegetative organs of A. cristatum formed droughtspecific morphological structures. The walls of endodermal cells of roots were thickened and the cells showed horseshoe shapes. The cortex cells near the endodermis systematically arranged in two rings, but cell walls were not thickened. The epidermal cells of stems arranged compactly and were horny thickening. Upper and lower epidermal cells of leaves had elldeveloped horny layers and vascular bundles; and the sheath of vascular bundles was a typical plant structure of C3. Rhizomes were consisted of epidermis, basic tissues and vascular bundles. The structure of rhizomes was similar to that of stems. The epidermal cells had no epidermal hairs and attachment structures. The vascular bundles distributed in the basic tissues, of which the vascular bundles near the epidermis arranged in a circle regularly but the others distributed irregularly.