Abstract
The morphological and anatomical responses of Cynodon dactylon growing under five tree species in Lal Suhanra National Park (LSP), Pakistan, were explored, with an open canopied site as the control. Leaf, stem, root and inflorescence characteristics were quantified and leaf, stem and root were analysed under a microscope. Analysis of variance, Pearson correlation, heatmap analysis and principal component analysis were used to evaluate the data. There was variation in responses of canopy species and plant tissues. On average Ziziphus mauritiana favoured the morphological and the leaf anatomical characteristics, while Acacia nilotica favoured the stem development and Syzygium cumini favoured the root anatomical characteristics. But the area of the vascular bundles and root-tissue measurements were decreased by several of the canopy treatments, suggesting possible restrictions. Therefore, the results show that C. dactylon is structurally plastic in response to different tree canopies and that tree canopy species is a key factor in C. dactylon understory growth and anatomical development.