Anatomy and histology of leaf blades were studied in twenty-six species of the Oryzeae and thirty species of the Ehrharteae (see table 1). 2. It is shown that the two tribes differ in the following three characters: (a) the midrib of the leaf blade of the Oryzeae always includes at least two vascular bundles, one of which is placed near the adaxial surface, while in the Ehrharteae there are one or a few vascular bundles distributed only near the abaxial surface; (b) the chlorenchyma of the Oryzeae, with very few exceptions, is composed of arm cells, but such cells are completely lacking in the chlorenchyma of the Ehrharteae so far as observed; (c) the silica bodies of the Oryzeae are mostly of the oryzoid type, although there are exceptions, while the oryzoid type is never found in the Ehrharteae. Further, fusoid cells occur in some species of Oryzeae but are completely absent in Ehrharteae. 3. The grouping of the Ehrharteae as presently interpreted is natural, in spite of the fact that the species of this tribe differ somewhat in certain histological characters. 4. The results demonstrate that the Ehrharteae are closer to species of the Arundinoideae in leaf anatomy than to the Oryzoideae. It is suggested that the Ehrharteae may be a distinct group without very close relatives.
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Tuguo Tateoka (1963) studied this question.