Table 1 Some important root characters, their types, and codes for identification of the studied RDS of family Apocynaceae used in ISM
S.No | Characters | Types (code) |
|---|---|---|
 1 | Surface appearance | Nearly smooth and uniform bark (1)/ Bark may be rough or scaly (2) |
 2 | Surface wrinkles | Present (1)/ Absent (2) |
 3 | Surface fissures | Present (1)/ Absent (2) |
 4 | Granular or powdery mass on scrapping | Present (1)/ Absent (2) |
 5 | Nodule like surface protuberances | Present (1)/ Absent (2) |
 6 | Transverse surface cracks | Present (1)/ Absent (2) |
 7 | Surface texture | Hard (1)/ Soft (2) |
| Â | Â | |
 8 | Cork color | Dark brown (1)/ Light brown (2) |
 9 | Cortex colour | Dark brown (1)/ Light brown (2)/ Light cream (3) |
 10 | Bark nature | Separated from the main root portion (1)/ Adhered to main root portion (2) |
 11 | Pores in the woody part | Uniformly distributed (1)/ Uneven (2) |
 12 | Pore arrangement in the woody part | Circular arrangement (1)/ Spoke like arrangement (2)/ Random (3)/Circular and spoke like both (4) |
 13 | Pore size and distribution in the woody part | Large-sized, uniformly present (1)/ Large-sized, scattered (2)/ Small-sized, uniformly present (3)/ Small-sized, scattered (4)/ Very small (5) |
 14 | The appearance of pore size in the woody part | Nearly uniform size (1)/ Varying pore (2) |
 15 | Sclereids in bark | Present (1)/ Absent (2) |
 16 | Secretory canals in the bark | Well-formed (1)/ Deformed (2) |
 17 | Crystals in bark | Abundant (1)/ Rare (2) |
 18 | Cork zone thickness (percent of the total root thickness) | Thick [> 10%] (1)/ Medium [5–10%] (2)/ Thin [< 5%] (3) |
 19 | Cork lignification | Lignified (1)/ Less lignified (2)/ Parenchymatous (3) |
 20 | Cortex zone thickness (percent of the total root thickness) | Thin [< 20%] (1)/ Medium [20–30%] (2)/ Thick [> 30%] (3) |
 21 | Clustering of xylem vessels | Solitary (1)/ Groups (2)/ Linear (3)/ Groups and linear both (4)/ Solitary and groups (5)/ Solitary and linear (6)/ Solitary, Linear and in groups (7) |
 22 | Xylem zone thickness (percent of the total root thickness) | Thin [40–60%] (1)/ Medium [60–80%] (2)/ Thick [> 80%] (3) |
 23 | Medullary rays appearance | Distinguished (1)/ Less distinguished (2) |
 24 | Width of medullary rays | Uniform width throughout (1)/ one-celled at the center and slightly widened at outer region (2)/ Comparatively much wider at outer region than the center region (3)/ Less distinguished (4) |
 25 | Annular ring markings (in cut root surface) | Distinct (1)/ Indistinct or Absent (2) |
 26 | Pith | Present (1)/ Absent (2) |
 27 | Iodine test of dry T.S. showing an abundance of starch in | Cork (1)/ Cortex (2)/ Medullary rays (3)/ Both cortex and medullary rays (4) |
Powder characters (Additional file 1: Fig. S1, S2) | ||
 28 | The shape of starch grains | Spherical (1)/ Oval (2)/ Slightly oval to elongated (3)/ More than two shapes (4)/ Oval to spherical shaped (5) |
 29 | Grouping of starch grains | Single (1)/ Two to four units (2)/ More than four units (3) |
 30 | Crystal type | Prismatic (1)/ Rosette (2)/ Both Prismatic & Rosette (3)/ Prismatic, Rosette & Acicular (4) |
 31 | Colored fragments | Few (1)/ Abundant (2) |
 32 | Sclereids | Few (1)/ Abundant (2) |
 33 | Cork cells | Few (1)/ Abundant (2) |