EXPERIMENT 05 Objective. To study the distribution of stoma ta on upper and lower surfaces of leaf

                                  EXPERIMENT 05

Objective. To study the distribution of stoma ta on upper and lower surfaces of leaf

REQUIREMENT

Fresh leaf of Petunia or any other herbaceous plant /fresh leaf of lily, forceps, needle, blade, brush, watch glasses, petridish, beaker, glass slides, coverslips, safranine, glycerine, water, etc.

PROCEDURE

1.Take out epidermal peels from the upper and lower surfaces of Petunia leaf and put them in water in separate watch glasses. The peels can be taken out by tearing the leaf obliquely with a single jerk or scraping it with blade.

2. Stain the peels with safranin by adding a few drops of the strain in the watch glasses.

3.Cut a small rectangle or square piece from each peel and mount them in glycerine on separate slides.

4. Cover the peels with coverslips and observe them under the microscope.

5. Count the number of stomata in the peels of both upper and lower epidermis of the leaf appearing in the microscopic field.

6. Similarly prepare the slides of the peels of lily leaf and count the number of stomata in the microscopic field.

OBSERVATION

In the leaf of Petunia, the number of stomata is more in the lower epidermis, and only few stomata are present in the upper epidermis. However, the leaf of lily has almost equal number of stomata in both the epidermis.

PRECAUTIONS

1.The curling of the peel should be avoided.

2. Always use brush to transfer the peel from watch glass to the slide.

3.Excess of glycerine should be removed by using blotting paper.