Transplant Garden — Rare and Curious Plants

Kanna leaf under a microscope!

   

Written by:

Noah@TransplantGarden

 I have long been curious about the bubbly/ sparkly appearance of Sceletium Tortuosum. This past weekend I decided to get my microscope out and take a look!

Equipment:

Swift SW380t Trinocular Microscope

Milwaukee pen light

My microscope is a compound microscope that is better suited to very small specimens. Think microorganisms on slides vs larger things like leaves.  To get around this hurdle, I simply stuck with my small magnifications: 40x, and 100x. To light up my specimen, I shone a pen light on the top of my specimen.

Kanna Leaf

A small section of a kanna leaf on a finger
A Kanna leaf under a microscope
See the bubbly texture. It reminds me of liquid filled bubble wrap. 40x magnification.
A very close look at a Kanna leaf under a microscope
Here is the 100x magnification of the leaf. 

I am still asking around to answer why the plant has this particular structure, but for now, I just had to share these images with you! 

Comment if there are other things you would be interested in seeing magnified!

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