Three inland dune species were studied in the present investigation, with regard to their leaf anatomy: Leucothoe oleifolia (Ericaceae), Palicourea marcgravii (Rubiaceae) and Waltheria cinerescens (Sterculiaceae). The ecological area in which these species line is considered to be a transition between cerrado and forest. Xeromorphic characters are seen in the three species such as: adaxial epidermis with anticlinal cell walls being thickened as well as even or slightly curved when this tissue is observed in surface view; stomata and trichomes of the non-glandular and glandular types - in great number; achlorophyllous subepidermal layers; compact palisade parenchym; cell walls with reticulate thickening in the chlorenchyma; bundle sheaths and bundle sheath extensions occuring in three types: sclerenchymatous, parenchymatous and partly parenchymatous. The mentioned characters do not occur simultaneously.
ecological leaf anatomy; leaf anatomy; leaf xeromorphism; sun leaf