Database: Stomatal complexes reported in Mimosa

Mimosa L. belongs to one of the largest and most diverse families of angiosperms, the legumes, yet the morphological characters used are not sufficient for the delimitation and recognition of its sections, series, and species, and it is for this reason that its infrageneric classification is considered problematic.

Thus, the aim of our study was to perform, based on a literature review, an analysis of the taxonomic relevance of stomatal complexes in the infrageneric classification of Mimosa. Studies on stomatal complexes in Mimosa are scarce, but the evidence suggests: i) that the presence of paracytic complexes does not allow for the separation of sections, ii) that, thus far, series Acanthocarpae, section Batocaulon is the only series to exhibit exclusively paracytic stomatal complexes, and iii) that the anomocytic complex observed in M. benthamii is useful for the recognition of that taxon.