This paper aimed to verify the existence of the drought characteristics of resistance in seedlings during coffee development. The material Siriema was compared to Catuaí cultivar. The experiment was conducted in greenhouse, with mesh screen and plastic in experimental area of DBI/UFLA/MG. One used coffee seedlings of 'Siriema' and 'Catuaí' of six months age, containing six to eight pairs of leaves, from the nursery house of Fundação Procafé in Varginha, MG. Before the treatment induction, the seedlings were daily irrigated, then the treatments were estabilished: one group continued to be irrigated and another one was submitted to irrigation suspension. The experimental period lasted 10 days. The experimental unit was composed by one plant with 5 replicates, disposed in freely randomized design. For the adaxial and abaxial epidermis, stomatic index and PP/LF ratio, and no significative differences were found. Considering the spongy perenchym in irrigated treatment, the 'Siriema' showed higher thickness than Catuaí cv., while for the palisada parenchyma there was no difference. The 'Siriema' leaf blade was thicker than 'Catuaí' independent of the treatment. The polar and equatorial diameters of the stomata were higher in non-irrigated treatment for 'Siriema'. For the DP/DE ratio for stomatic density the non- irrigated 'Siriema' showed higher in relation to non-irrigated Catuaí cv. In this experiment conditions, the polar and equatorial diameters of the stomata, DP/DE ratio and stomatic density allowed to discriminate satisfactory both coffee genotype studied in relation to differential tolerance, favoring the material Siriema.
Coffea arabica L.; drought; leaf anatomy
