In this work a morphoanatomical comparative characterization was carried out between the leaves of Nicandra physalodes (L.) Gaertn. and Physalis angulata L. (Solanaceae) species used in folk medicine, whose leaves are indicated as diuretic and febrifuge. The botanical identification and macroscopical morphodiagnosis were made after morphological studies. The microscopical morphodiagnosis were carried out by paradermic and transversal cuts of the leaves (blade and petiole), clarified and coloured with safranin and astrablue. Moreover the morphological characters of the flower and fruit, of the two species can be distinguished by the following characters: N. physalodes has the bundle vascular of the middle vein in arc format; P. angulata has the vascular bundle of the middle vein in a semi-circle format; druses in the mesophyll of P. angulata; andthe presence of trichomes glandular-estipitate with bisseriate head in N. physalodes. The morphology of flower and fruit and the anatomy of mesophyll, the vascular bundles of middle vein are the principal distinctive characters between them.
Nicandra physalodes; Physalis angulata; Solanaceae; pharmacobotany; medicinal plants
