The morphology and anatomy of the vegetative organs of Piper hispidum are described, detaching remarkable strutural aspects and contributing to taxonomical and pharmacobotanical studies. The material was studied according to the usual techniques, including SEM (Scaning Eletron Microscopy). Piper hispidum is a shrub with cylindrical and green stem, which has alternate leaves. The main anatomical characteristics that can be used in its identification are: root with sclereids on cortical parenchyma, stem cortex with discontinuous strands of angular collenchyma, and vascular tissue constituted by two discontinous circles of collateral vascular bundles. The leaf is dorsiventral and hypostomatic with tetracytic stomata. The hypodermis is discontinuous in adaxial face, loose in abaxial one and presents a variable number of layers. Uniseriate epidermis and oil idioblasts occur in all organs.
Piper hispidum; Piperaceae; morpho-anatomy; pharmacobotany
