Although I have not done it I was told once should I ever need the broad bean has great leaves for stomata.
I think geraniums are used mostly because they are found everywhere and easy to use. If broad beans are not in season when you are doing the prac I am sure one of the teachers in the school will have geraniums in their gardens -if not the school - ask around might be easier.
Hopefully someone will come up with something better
Hello
We had great success yesterday with iris leaves (which are plentiful in our dry climate). Break the leaf across then tear longways to get a thin transparent piece of leaf tissue.
This may be of use.
Regards
Jilly
Hi,
our teachers are very fond of painting firm plant/tree leaves with clear nail polish. This when dry, can be peeled off and placed on a microscope slide for viewing. They seem very happy with the results from pittosporum (native privet) leaves.
Cheers,
~Robyn
All our Seniors are investigating stomata for their EEI's, so that's all we've been doing for the last xillion lunch hours. We compared monocotyledons with Dicots for a look at how stomata were arranged on the leaf. We used sugar cane leaves (life in the tropics) but bamboo would also work, to demonstrate monocots. The outside leaves of red cabbage, slightly wilted, also gives great results. It's also fun to compare epiphytes with their host trees.