Question

Give any four anatomical differences between monocotyledonous and dicotyledonous leaves.

Answer 1

Hint: Flowering plants that contain only one cotyledon are known as monocots. Similarly, flowering plants having two cotyledons are known as dicots. Besides the number of cotyledons, both the monocot and dicot plant categories exhibit vastly different characteristics from each other with respect to the other parts of the plant such as the roots, leaves and stem.

Complete answer:
Some of the differences between monocotyledonous and dicotyledonous leaf includes:
The monocot leaves are vertically placed, whereas dicot leaves are dorsiventral in orientation.
The mesophyll of monocot leaves is undifferentiated, whereas mesophyll of dicot leaves is differentiated into palisade and spongy parenchyma.
The monocot leaves have parallel venation whereas the dicot leaves have reticulate venation.
Stomata of monocot leaves are bounded by girdle shaped guard cells whereas stomata of dicot leaves are bounded by kidney guard cells.
In monocot leaves, the stomata are equally distributed on both sides whereas in dicot leaves, stomata are more on the lower or abaxial side.
Both sides of the leaf are equally green in monocot leaves, whereas the upper side of dicot leaves are darker than the lower side.

Note:
Both the monocot and dicot leaves have an outer, waxy layer called the cuticle which covers dermal tissue of upper and the lower epidermis. This layer of cuticle protects the leaf and helps it to retain water. Beneath the cuticle is the epidermis which also protects the leaf. It plays an important role in the process of gas exchange as well, because it contains pores known as stomata.