The leaves of Arum conophalloides (Araceae) were used in some west areas of Iran as a dessert. The aerial parts of the herb were collected from Sahneh Mountains, Kermanshah Province, west of Iran and was hydrodistilled by Clevenger-type apparatus. Composition of the essential oil was determined by GC and GC/MS. Totally, 18 components (92% of total essential oil) were identified. The oil contains mainlyΤ-muurolol (%25. 4), Ionone (%12. 6), nonanal (%17. 7), Τ-cadinol (%8. 9), Fitone (%7. 9), and Methyl palmitate (%7. 0). The chemical composition of essential oils from the herbs is being reported for the first time.

The family Araceae includes 2500 species within 110 genera they protect themselves from weeds and animal predators by forming insoluble salts in the form of calcium oxalate crystals in specialized cells called idioblasts. This research investigates the types of calcium oxalate crystals in three species of the Araceae family, namely Arum palaestinum, Arum dioscoridis, and Arisarum vulgare. Based on the transverse section of different plant parts including tubers, leaves, spathe, appendix, male flowers, and female flowers five forms including raphide crystal, star crystal, prismatic crystal, styloid crystal, and sand crystal were identified. Raphides were uniformly present in all parts of the three species, but the positions of other crystal forms varied within their organs. This study also confirmed different types of specialized cells (idioblasts) containing raphid crystals. Idioblasts are unaltered cells with wide, elongated, tubular, and spindle shapes, housing simple, compound, and oblique-overlapping bundles. Additionally, certain plant parts displayed calcium oxalate crystals on their exterior surfaces, detached from the tissues.

This study aimed to describe the post-seminal development, evaluate how the available water, light and temperature influence seed germination and to describe the vegetative propagation by selecting one of the collected plants of Pistia stratiotes. The plant material was collected in a tributary of the Rio Igaraç u, Parnaí ba, Piauí State, Brazil. A botanical description of the species was made using individuals collected in the study area. For the germination tests, a total of 1400 seeds were harvested and three experiments were conducted, varying the amount of available water, light and temperature. The results showed that the highest percentage of germination is occurred with seeds pre-washed with distilled water, sown on filter paper with abundant water (enough to form a sheet of water) and exposed to alternating light at an average temperature of 37° C. Germination began on the fourth day after sowing, marked by the appearance of the cataphyll. After 22 days, the seedling stage was completed. Vegetative propagation of this species is efficient and fast. In 50 days, a total of 134 new vegetative shoots were recorded in just one individual. The results showed that the germination rate is related to the amount of light and temperature.

Leaf explants of kaladium dwubarwneCaladium bicolor (Aiton) Vent., were culturedin vitro on MS media supplemented with 25 different concentrations of BAP and NAA in order to determine the appropriate concentrations for micropropagation. All combinations induced callus formation on explants. Callus production on leaves explants grown on control medium was very low. The medium enriched with 4 mg l-1 BAP+0.5 mg l-1 NAA was the most effective for callus formation. The highest number of shoots (6.43 per explant) and roots (5.56 per explant) were regenerated on media containing 1 mg l-1 BAP+0.5 mg l-1 NAA and 3 mg l-1 BAP+0.5 mg l-1 NAA, respectively. The regenerated plantlets were grown in a greenhouse and acclimatized successfully.