Morphological and anatomical features of regular and cristate forms of Echinocereus pectinatus (Scheidw.) Eng. (Cactaceae A.L. Juss.)

Comparative morphological and anatomical investigations on the normal and cristate forms of Echinocereus pectinatus (Scheidw.) Eng. stem (Cactaceae A.L Juss.) from Fomin’s Botanical Garden collections have been conducted. There were found a few characters identical for the stem structure in both forms. But also were found morphological and anatomical differences between normal and cristate forms. The most obvious sign of fasciation is a change of cross stem sections from circular to elliptical shape. The plants are also distinguished by the size and the form of transversal projections of the parenchymatous cells and by shape and location of the inclusions.