| In Egypt there are two different species that are commercially marketed under the same trade name of Neem: one is Azadirachta indica A. Juss., and the other is Melia azedarach L. In this paper, leaf morphological characters (e.g., lamina architecture, stomatography, petiole and blade micromorphology) of both taxa were described and illustrated to aid in the identification and differentiation between the two misidentifed taxa. The obtained results concluded that leaf morpho-anatomical characters will not only provide criteria for their correct taxonomic authentication, but would also serve as future standard data for the quality assessment of the pharmaceutical preparation of botanical drugs. |
