Traditional uses, common names, adulterations and substitutions of medicinal plants are some of the considerations that require qualitative analysis for effective quality control. Microscopy studies of selected “boldo” species using light and scanning electron microscopy reveled key diagnostic traits that can help species identification. These traits can contribute to the quality control of the botanical traded in the form of whole, fragmented or powdered leaves. The studied species exhibited different features in their leaf trichome micro-morphology; Peumus boldus has stellate non-glandular trichomes, Plectranthus neochilus possesses simple non-glandular trichomes with warty cuticle, and short-stalked capitate and peltate glandular trichomes, and Plectranthus barbatus has simple non-glandular with smooth cuticle, short- and long-stalked capitate, as well as peltate glandular trichomes. These differences prove to be helpful in the species identification and quality control of products containing “boldo” species.

药用植物的传统用途，惯用名称，掺假和替代品是需要进行定性分析以进行有效质量控制的一些考虑因素。使用光和扫描电子显微镜对选定的“ boldo”物种进行的显微镜研究揭示了有助于诊断物种的关键诊断特征。这些特性可以促进以完整，碎片状或粉末状叶片形式交易的植物的质量控制。所研究的物种在其叶片毛状体的微观形态上表现出不同的特征。Peumus boldus有星状的非腺毛，Plectranthus neochilus具有带结皮的简单的非腺毛，表皮有短头状和头状的腺毛，Plectranthus barbatus具有简单的非腺体，具有平滑的角质层，短和长茎头状，以及带齿的腺毛。这些差异被证明有助于对含有“ boldo”物种的产品进行物种识别和质量控制。