A morphological and anatomical study of an annual grass Eremopyrum (Poaceae) in Iran.

Eremopyrum (Poaceae) is distributed in various habitats in Iran. This genus is an Irano touranian floristic element and is represented by five species in Iran. In the morphological study 55 quantitative and qualitative characters were evaluated in 26 populations. It was observed that length of lowermost and uppermost glumes and its awn, spike length and lodicules lengths are diagnostic characters. In anatomical studies, the cross sections of the leaf blade and dorsal epidermis were examined and the stomata index was calculated. Characters as frequency of short and silica cells, number of macro hairs, prickles, subsidiaries, shape and number of vascular bundles are diagnostic. Inter- and intra- specific variation in Eremopyrum is evaluated.