Light and scanning electron microscopy of Trigonella foenum-graecum leaves confirmed the presence of one type of non-glandular trichome and two types of capitates glandular trichomes (clavate and elongated). Capitate glands arise as protodermal protuberances that divide asymmetrically to produce a basal cell and an apical cell. Further divisions of the apical cell produce a capitates trichomes with one basal cell, one to three stalk cells and two to ten cells of the head arranged in one to several layer of cells, one to four cells in each. Alkaloids, polysaccharides, acidic lipids and amino acids were histochemical detected in all the glandular cells; phenolic substances were detected in the epidermal cells and in secretory head cells. There are no differences in gland development or secretion between the clavate and elongated capitate glandular trichomes.
