Abstract: We observed and studied anatimical characteristics of the leaf and stem of Suaeda kossinskyi growing in the salt alkali desert in Zhongwei of province Ningxia under the apply optical microscope. The result makes known that the plant expresses many characteristics adapting living in the arid and saline-alkali soil. The essential features are as the follows: isobilateral and fleshy leaf looked like club;the more thick superficial cuticle on the epidermic cells of leaf and stem, the very few of which being nipple salt cell;palisade tissue ringlikely;great water-storing cells in leaf;crystal cell scattered among water-storing cells;vascular bundles of vein nondeveloped;a little secondary growth in the stem;the developed pith in the structure of stem; furthermore, the pith having water-storing function;abnormal structure appearing in the later period of stem development, etc. In addition, there are three specific characteristics in leaf stem of Suaeda kossinskyi: (1) There is a layer thin wall cells arranging loosely in epidermic leaf;(2) It is a layer storage cells in inner of palisade tissue, the nucleus and vacuole of storage cells distribute in outer, and ergastic substance is deposited in inner. (3) Vessel end of vascular bundles of vein does not go deep into palisade tissue. These structures and characteristics show the diversity of Suaeda kossinskyi adapting living in the arid and saline-alkali soil, and will furnish a new experiment evidence for physiology study on xerophyte and euhalophyte.

Key words: Suaeda kossinskyi, secrete salt cell, store cell, anatomical charateristics