Foeniculum vulgare Mill., belonging to the family Apiaceae, is known as fennel and has great medicinal and commercial importance, both in Brazil and in several other countries. The objective of this research was to study the development of stomata of F. vulgare seedlings grown from seeds produced in intercropping systems fennel and cotton, with application of insecticide monocrotophos. The fennel was grown in association with colored cotton BRS Safira, with the following treatments: 1A2E, one rows of cotton and two fennel; 2A1E, two rows of cotton and one fennel; ES, fennel single; were distributed with and without application of insecticide, total six treatments. The seeds were sown in sand and kept in a greenhouse for 25 days. Parts of seedlings (transition zone, stem, cotyledons and leaves) were cut freehand, stained and mounted on slides with glycerol for observation under microscope. Were evaluated the following characteristics: stomata number, polar and equatorial diameter of the stomata and chloroplasts number in guard cells. The data were analyzed in completely randomized and distributed in factorial 3x2, being conducted Tukey test at 5% probability. The transition zone and stem showed an increase of the stomata number and polar diameter the when consortium systems were used. In cotyledons, fennel single provided the highest stomata number, but with smaller diameter and fewer chloroplasts. In leaf, the consortia have positively influenced the stomata and chloroplasts number. In general, the intercropping systems and insecticide positively influenced the development of stomata in fennel plants.
Apiaceae; chloroplasts; germination; photosynthesis
