Leaf Morphological Variation of Acanthus in Some Estuarine Areas of Cilacap

Acanthus is the only genus of family Acanthaceae which occupies mangroves habitat. Despite the importance of Acanthus, collection, characterization and improvement of its germplasm is limited. Hence, this will hinder its effective conservation and utilization. Therefore, the objective of this research was to identify morphological variation of Acanthus in some estuarine areas of Cilacap Central java in relation to habitat. The method used in this study was survey with stratified sampling. The variables measured included, leaf shape, size, apex, base, margin, color and spine. The results of this study indicated that the different location affect some morphological characteristics. Most of the Acanthus population observed in this study have direction of stem axial spines facing upwards, green, inflorescences spika, petals large, light violet Similar to characters Acanthus ilicifolius has variations in leaf margin, leaf shape and size.