COUMARINS FROM DAPHNE AXILLIFLORA (KEISSL.) POBED. AND THE ANATOMICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF ITS LEAVES AND STEMS.

The aim of the study was to determine the stable diagnostic traits of a Caucasian endemic plant Daphne axilliflora (Keissl.) Pobed. and study its phytochemical composition. The following stable diagnostic characteristic were identified during the microstructural analysis: leaf surface glabrous, hypostomatic, dorsoventral; epidermal cells chaotic; curved with curved walls on both the upper and lower epidermis; stomata anomocytic; well visible chloroplasts, rhomboid and needle shaped crystals in lower leaf epidermis; leaf vascular bundles reverse-collateral; vascular system monocyclic, bilateral; wood diffuse-porous; xylem parenchyma is apotracheal, scanty metatracheal; vessel walls are predominantly characterized by spiral and pitted thickening; collenchyma lamellar; radial rays in single rows, heterogeneous. Phytochemical analysis showed the presence of terpene and phenolic substances, including coumarins. Two well-known coumarins (daphnin and daphnetin) were isolated and identified.