Leaf wax fine structure and ontogeny in Eucalyptus demonstrated by means of a specialized fixation technique

The epidermal cells of Eucalyptus leaves are not well preserved by the conventional sectioning methods used for electron microscopy. More satisfactory preservation results from the use of an in vivo perfusion technique using glutaraldehyde or glutaraldehyde-formaldehyde mixtures. This technique preserves wax on the cuticle surface, rendering it insoluble in the organic solvents used for dehydration and embedding in epoxy resins. Using this method, no direct connection is apparent between leaf wax, cuticle, cell wall and cytoplasm. The Golgi bodies appear to produce vesicles which migrate only in the direction of the outer cell wall, and which might liberate wax precursors into the wall, from where they could diffuse through cuticular lamellae to polymerize or oxidize at the leaf surface as waxes of characteristic morphology.