We studied the leaf vasculature and the petiole anatomy of 22 species of Melastomataceae from the cerrado of the São Paulo State, Brazil. In all the representatives, the leaf venation is of the acrodromous pattern, but some features, such as the kind of areolation, the number of primary and secondary veins, the type of marginal ultimate venation, and the arrangement of the vein nets, can be related to the tribe and genera that the species belongs. Some aspects of the petiole structure, such as its outline, the distribution of the vascular bundles and the epidermal features, are also useful to characterize the genera. The variation observed on leaf venation and on petiole anatomy are described and discussed under a taxonomic point of view.
Melastomataceae; leaf vasculature; anatomy; petiole; cerrado
